Much confusion over ‘vague’ SOP – reps
SANDAKAN: Member of Parliament Vivian Wong has criticized the government for its apparent inability to come out with an effective communication plan to deliver a clearer and coordinated message to the public as the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the Movement Control Order (MCO) 2.0 is causing so much confusion on the ground.
Vivian made the statement after her team was flooded with hundreds of calls from the public since Tuesday to seek clarification on the SOP, especially in regard to which sectors can continue to operate during MCO 2.0.
“We waited nearly 24 hours after the Prime Minister’s announcement on Monday that MCO 2.0 will be imposed from Jan 13 for the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) to issue a list of 37 essential services that are allowed to operate during MCO 2.0, and subsequently, Majlis Keselamatan Negeri Sabah issued a corresponding SOP based on this list.
“However, the list issued by Miti is too general when referring to which service sectors are allowed to operate, triggering a flood of enquiries from the public who were confused and unsettled.
“We too, were trying to “decipher” what exactly constitute ‘Perkhidmatan Professional dan Teknikal’ or ‘Perkhidmatan Perniagaan Global’,” said Vivian.
According to her, only after several hours later that night, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) issued another list of 16 trades that are allowed to operate during this period.
She said they actually had to call back many to retract what they have told them based on the Miti list earlier as the KPDNHEP list provides a different interpretation to what constitutes essential services.
Furthermore, she said, each state’s SOP is slightly different especially in terms of operation hours allowed for each sector. Again, there was so much confusion as a result until Majlis Perbandaran Sandakan issued a notice to clarify this issue the next evening on Jan 13.
“This is total madness and it clearly shows that different ministries are not communicating with each other to handle the Covid situation.
“What is the point of our Senior Minister for Defence going on live television every evening to talk about the Covid situation if he can’t even do the simple job of coordinating among different ministries involved?
“It is so disappointing and frustrating to say the least. This is not the first time the government is imposing MCO in the country, and yet, things are still so uncoordinated and sketchy,” she said.
Vivian said the government must get their act together immediately to save both lives and livelihood.
She said the MCO is already tough on Malaysians, as many suffer from loss of income and revenue.
“The last thing we want is to have an ineffective MCO where Covid-19 cases continue to rise despite all the SOP in place,” she added.
Meanwhile, Democratic Action Party Luyang assemblyman Phoong Jin Zhe said different ministries, authorities and departments were giving different answers when questioned regarding the SOP of MCO 2.0.
He said that according to Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, shops selling mobile phones are allowed to operate during MCO but on the other hand, the Kota Kinabalu City Hall and Sabah National Security Council stated that they are not allowed.
However, the Tawau Municipal Council is allowing shop owners to operate.
“The government is not in sync with the announcements made by themselves, even members of the legislative are puzzled. How does the government expect the public to be able to be clear regarding the SOP?” said the assemblyman.
“Some essential workers told me that they were requesting to cross district to get back to work from the police but the authorities told them to apply with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti).
“The ridiculous part is that in the National Security Council’s SOP, the public only has to present a formal letter from their workplace and get approval from the police, why is Miti suddenly involved?”
Phoong said the Prime Minister, Chief Minister and senior officials were all unprepared after declaring a state of emergency while implementing MCO at the same time.
“The current MCO cannot curb the pandemic nor flatten the curve as majority are allowed to operate but it increases the financial burden of the people,” said the Sabah Dapsy chief.
Phoong raised the matter after conducting a livestream session on his Facebook to engage with the public and explain the latest SOP. The live event attracted 30,000 viewers and 2,000 comments.
The former state minister also called on the state government, including state ministers and ministry officials to stop “hiding” and take a proactive approach and answer the questions and concerns of the public.
“It is not right when you need an opposition member to stand up and answer questions from the public as if the government is not existing,” he said.