SOP blunder causes panic among public, says chamber
KOTA KINABALU: Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KKCCCI) president, Datuk Michael Lui, has criticised the Sabah National Security Council (NSC) for mistakenly posting a five-page standard operating procedure (SOP) for the interdistrict travel ban from Oct 3 to 16 on its Facebook page.
He said the SOP listed were a lot like the restrictions imposed during the first phase of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
He said the Sabah Information Department also released the same SOP concurrently.
"The public have no reason to doubt the SOP as the information was issued by the authorities.
"Soon after it was issued, the SOP has spread like wildfire on social media, causing much anxiety and panic among the public," he said in a statement yesterday.
Although the NSC and Sabah Information Department had realized their blunder and deleted the post within half an hour, Lui said the content had caused much confusion and unnecessary misunderstanding.
"We hope that the relevant authority will be more careful in releasing Covid-19 SOP to ensure the mistake will not happen again.
"With the daily Covid-19 figures hovering from two to three-digits in Sabah, the authority should avoid issuing false information.
"What we need is for the government and people to work together in stemming the spread of Covid-19 in Sabah."
Nevertheless, Lui thanked Sabah State Secretary Datuk Seri Panglima Safar Untong for clarifying that the SOP was meant for internal discussion and reference, and not to be implemented during the interdistrict travel restriction that took effect yesterday.
He reminded the public to keep tab on official announcements by the NSC and Sabah State Covid-19 Disaster Committee.
Lui said the Health directorgeneral Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had stated that Malaysia was at the starting stage for the third wave of Covid-19 and the next two weeks would be critical.
"I urge the public to strictly comply with the Health Ministry's guidelines and SOP to reduce and control and spread of the virus."