Follow SOPs strictly, operators told
KUCHING: Public transport operators must follow strictly the standard operating procedures ( SOP) in checking their passengers before allowing them to travel in their buses, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas yesterday.
He said bus operators have been briefed by the state Transport Ministry on the SOP they must adhere to as well as the SOP in vetting their passengers when plying along routes allowed by the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) throughout the Conditional Movement
Control Order (CMCO) period.
Operators of express and regional bus services also have to adhere to the same SOP to resume operations after June 1, as announced by Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin yesterday.
“All these SOPs have been set by the Sarawak Transport Ministry and have been given to all the bus operators in the state.
“They (ministry and bus operators) already had a meeting and the operators have been briefed. So we ask everybody to cooperate and abide by the SOP for the good of everyone,” he said during a daily Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) press conference on Covid-19 updates yesterday.
He said bus operators must ensure that their passengers possess the necessary documents before allowing them to board. At the same time, he said bus operators must ensure that passengers observe social distancing while seated in the bus.
Uggah said the police will check on the bus operators and passengers to see if they adhere to the SOP at roadblocks.
“The police will check even the number of passengers in the buses, usually a bus with capacity of about 40 passengers, with the social distancing policy, the buses cannot be loaded full of passengers. The police will take action.
“All these SOPs has been given by our Sarawak Transport Ministry to the bus operators. They already have had a meeting and have been briefed.
“So we urge everyone to cooperate and comply with the SOP for the good of everybody,” he said.
Lee in a statement yesterday morning said it is advisable for all express and regional bus operators to make the necessary preparations based on the established SOP before resuming their services after June 1.
He said that these preparations include sanitising their buses, taking swab tests for their drivers, reorganising seating arrangements in the buses for social distancing purposes and getting ready other apparatus such as handheld thermometer, hand sanitiser and face masks.
Meanwhile, Uggah said SDMC has received another 6,098 applications for inter district travel yesterday from 28 District Police Headquarters throughout the state, making a total of 36,880 received to date.
Out of that total, 34,334 applications have been approved while 2,546 rejected, he said.
Uggah also revealed that SDMC also received 29,229 notification letters from businesses resuming their economic activities during the CMCO period to date.
Out of the total, 21,179 were submitted online through the SDMC website, while 8,050 were submitted through email.