MMEA enforcement officers checking one of the vessels in Sarawak waters.
KUCHING: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Sarawak to date has inspected 1,714 vessels and boats during Op Covid-19 in conjunction with the Movement Control Order (MCO) which is enforced since March 18.
According to MMEA Sarawak region director First Admiral (Maritime) Robert Teh Geok Chuan, all inspections were conducted in the state’s waters and no arrests had been made so far.
He said the objective was to regulate the movement of assets along the state’s waters to ensure that the maritime community adhered to the MCO.
“The operation also acts as a bastion againts illegal entry of foreigners into Sarawak and constrains the risk of transmission of Covid-19 by sea,” he said in a statement here yesterday.
He added that MMEA in collaboration with the Fire and Rescue Department Malaysia (JBPM) had sanitised the assets at the Tun Abang Salahuddin Maritime Complex (Komtas) jetty.
“As a precautionary measure, sanitisation works were done on two vessels and five boats with seven personnel from JBPM involved,” he said.
Meanwhile, MMEA recently gave contributions to about 100 families at the nearby Kampung Muara Tebas and Kampung Selabat as part of their corporate social responsibilyu (CSR) programme.
“We understand the hardship and difficulties faced by the community thus through our CSR programme we gave some contributions for their daily needs.
“These initiatives were not only done here but also in other maritime zones in Tanjung Manis, Bintulu and Miri and these efforts are ongoing throughout the MCO to lessen the burden of the affected families,” said Teh.