Photo taken from the terminal at Sibu shows express boats plying along Rajang River.
SIBU: Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB) has yet to receive any notification from express boat operators regarding the resumption of operations for the Sibu-Kuching sector, which is being put on hold for now following inter-zone travel restriction in Sarawak.
The government announced last week about limiting the movement of people between zones, including inter-district travelling, from Aug 1 to 14 as a measure to curb further spread of Covid-19.
Those with valid and specific reasons to carry out inter-zone travel would need to obtain police permission.
Incoming flights from Peninsular Malaysia, Labuan and Sabah would also be limited throughout this period.
“No notification yet from the boat operators about resuming their operations; there’s also no instruction to withdraw the police permit requirement for such travel from the relevant authorities,” said SRB Sibu assistant controller Hatta Morshidi when contacted yesterday.
For the record, Kuching District has been declared a Yellow Zone, following the drop in the number of local transmissions to below 40 cases – as at yesterday.
Samarahan, Serian, Bau and Lundu were also tagged as Yellow Zone districts in Sarawak, having registered between one and 11 local transmissions in the past 14 days.
Meanwhile, a local operator said a notice had been placed at their ticketing counter to inform passengers about the suspension of operations.
“The primary reason (for the temporary halt in express boat operations) is due to the low passenger volume, coupled with restricted inter-zone travelling.
“So, we do not wish to take any risk,” he said, on condition of anonymity.
Upon closer observation, the notice at the counter indicated that all services would resume this Aug 15 – provided that inter-zone travel restriction is lifted then.