‘Inter-zone travel procedures likely to follow those during MCO’
KUCHING: Procedures to apply for travel between zones are expected to remain the same as during the Movement Control Order (MCO) once the state government has been granted permission to enforce a ban on movements between Zone 1 and Zone 2, said Sarawak deputy police commissioner Datuk Dev Kumar.
However, he said there have yet to be further instructions on this matter.
“The state government has just applied for a ban on movements between Zone 1 and Zone 2 and is awaiting instructions from the Ministry of Health.
“Once we have received the green light from the director-general of Health allowing Sarawak to enforce that restriction, we will start on midnight Aug 1,” he told reporters at the launch of National Month and Fly the Jalur Gemilang Campaign yesterday.
Dev Kumar said that there would be exceptions for certain situations, which would be announced later.
“These exceptions do not require permission from the police.
“Only ordinary movements need police permits, and the forms can be obtained from police stations,” he added.
Dev Kumar said the ban will only apply to the two zones, where Zone 1 covers Kuching, Samarahan, and Serian districts.
“People cannot move outside of Zone 1 to Zone 2 (and vice versa). That means people from Samarahan cannot go to Simunjan; Serian cannot go to Sri Aman; Kuching cannot go to Lundu; and Padawan cannot go to Bau.
“Expect police to conduct five to six road blocks covering those areas,” he said.
Zone 1 covers areas that are classified red and yellow zones with Covid-19 cases such as Kuching, Serian, and Samarahan; while Zone 2 refers to green zones.
On Monday, Sarawak police commissioner Datuk Aidi Ismail said the police have identified five locations to conduct roadblocks to curb the spread of Covid19 in Sarawak, following a directive on travel restrictions announced by Sarawak Disaster Management Committee chairman Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
The restriction will be enforced from Aug 1-14.