Sarawak party urges state govt to ban Ramadan bazaars

KUCHING, April 1 — Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) today urged the state government not to allow Ramadan bazaars to operate.

It said there is every possibility that the movement control order (MCO) may need to be extended for another one or two after the second phase ends on April 14.

“If that is the case, the people will grit their teeth and continue to stay home because we know that is the only way to break the chain of transmission of the virus,” the party said in a statement.

“So far, the government has been strict on compliance with the MCO and we read of news reports where groups of three or four people have been arrested and sentenced to prison for breaching the MCO.

“If the state proceeds to hold Ramadan bazaars, it is inevitable that there will be a large gathering of people in the bazaars,” it said.

The party stressed that the danger of another outbreak is very high and this will waste the sacrifices that the people have made to comply with the MCO, in particular the frontliners like the healthcare workers who have been exposed to the risk of infection while on duty.

PSB said another outbreak will require a prolonged MCO of another few months and this will have a ripple effect on the economy, especially small businesses that are teetering on the brink of bankruptcies.

“The flow-on effect of collapsing businesses will be large scale unemployment due to the fact that Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) comprise about 65 per cent of the Malaysian economy,” it said.

The party noted that in China, its government placed a total lockdown on many parts of the country and prevented movement before and during the Chinese lunar new year.

“By taking the hard decision, China was able to contain the outbreak far better than other countries,” PSB added.

The party claimed that Malaysia made its mistake by allowing the Tabligh gathering to go ahead and it led to the largest cluster of Covid-19 infection in the country.

“The government must learn from that lesson and prevent any large gathering regardless of the reason,” PSB said.

Related Articles S. Korea to allow absentee voting for Covid-19 patients in parliamentary elections Johor police chief: 165 charged with breaching MCO since March 18 As world battles virus, governments under fire