‘Local council’s right to close recreational areas violating SOP’
PUTRAJAYA: Local government authorities ( PBTs) have the right to close recreational areas and public parks found to have breached the standard operating procedures ( SOP) during enforcement of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) , says Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He says the SOP issued by the National Security Council (MKN) clearly outlines that group activities are prohibited during CMCO.
“The power to close recreational areas and public parks, like Tasik Titiwangsa is that of the PBT. So, I leave to the PBT concerned – if it is in Kuala Lumpur, the PBT is the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), to decide,” he told a daily media conference on the CMCO yesterday.
Yesterday DBKL, through its Facebook post, stated that the Taman Tasik Titiwangsa here, was closed to the public effective yesterday and would remain so until a date to be announced later, to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Ismail Sabri said the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) arrested 114 individuals for defying the CMCO on Thursday. Of the total, 86 were placed on remand and 28 others were allowed bail, he said, adding that compound was imposed on 433 individuals for defying the CMCO, but none for offences involving Aidilfitri visits. On the decision to allow interstate travel for married couples who were staying apart due to work commitment, Ismail Sabri said it would be made before the expiry of the current CMCO on June 9.
“We understand their situation and have been receiving their applications for interstate travel almost everyday. Insya Allah, we will look into it and if we think it can be allowed, we will announce it,” he added.
On interstate travel for students who were called for interviews by institutions of higher learning (IPTs), Ismail Sabri said it was not allowed yet as the interviews could be conducted online.
Meanwhile, he said the process of sending home IPT students who were stranded at their respective campuses, was still ongoing with 287 of them returning to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, on a flight from Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
“Today, 1,193 students are scheduled to be sent home,’ he said, adding that the Higher Education Ministry had made sure that the students underwent screening for Covid-19 before they were allowed to return home. — Bernama