Bernama file photo of the Petronas Twin Towers for illustration purposes.
KUCHING: The federal government will allow more economic sectors to reopen in stages during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period which has been extended further until April 28.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said those allowed to resume operations are subject to healthcare guidelines and strict movement control.
According to him again, the list of the sectors allowed to be reopen will be announced soon.
“I understand that the country’s economy has been affected by the curbs on enterprise, manufacturing and trading activities throughout the effective MCO period.
“I would like to stress that this opening of a limited number of sectors does not mean we will relax the MCO. The order is still in force and all directives issued by the authorities must be obeyed,” he said in his special address today.
He also announced a special cabinet committee co-chaired by two Senior Ministers, namely International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, would be set up to study the list of selected economic sectors to be reopened.
“If the enterprises, factories or companies are found to break the rules, the government will revoke the permission that it had granted to them,” he warned.
Prior to this, the government had already allowed several critical sectors to operate but with conditions attached, such as the use of minimal workforce.
Muhyiddin had announced today that the extension of the MCO period by two more weeks till April 28, to further curb the spread of Covid-19.
The first phase of the MCO, which was introduced to break the chain of Covid-19 infection, was from March 18 to 31, followed by the second phase from April 1 to 14.