SDMC urged to look for alternative quarantine venues

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Irene Chang

SIBU: The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) should spare more efforts and expenses to look for alternative and suitable venues as quarantine centres for those returning to Sibu.

Bukit Assek assemblywoman Irene Chang, in suggesting this, said the lack of available hotels as quarantine centres in Sibu was putting the local people in a very vulnerable situation in as far as Covid-19 cases were concerned.

“To relieve Sibu of the large number of travellers, the SDMC should consider roping in suitable hotels and other venues as quarantine centres, which are located in the travellers’ final destination town,” she said in a statement yesterday.

She was commenting on public concerns about arrivals from Peninsular Malaysia where persons under surveillance were ordered to undergo home quarantine due to the shortage of hotel rooms, as only one hotel here is designated as a quarantine centre.

“Sibu is the centre and transit point for travelers to the state’s central region, and the state government should promptly equip Sibu with sufficient resources and manpower to handle the potentially large number of people coming in from Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah.

“In other words, SDMC should consider decentralising the burden and share the workload among each division and major towns with strict SOPs in place.”

She said this would protect the medical facilities and all frontliners in Sibu from being overwhelmed and overstretched like what is happening in Sabah and other states.

“Home quarantine is not a conducive arrangement as it is putting the family members at high risk of being infected

“This is especially so when most households do not have proper facilities to ensure that a person is totally quarantined from the rest of the family in separate rooms with separate bathroom facilities.”

Chang said SDMC should be proactive and be ahead of time in ensuring that every main town in the state is independently and sufficiently equipped in the event of a massive outbreak.

She said available quarantine centres and sufficient manpower on the ground in each major town should be on standby.

She said the recent incident concerning illegal Indonesians who were tested positive in Sibu and Kuching and who had since disappeared, should never be allowed to happen again.

For the good of our society, strict enforcement of the SOPs for customers entering a public premises should be practised at all times, she added.

Chang said proper coordination, understanding and cooperation between private medical clinics, Ministry of Health, SDMC and the local authorities should also be implemented smoothly.

“I therefore urge all government authorities and the people to close rank and work together,” she said.