KOTA KINABALU: Oil palm plantation owners, including smallholders in Sabah, will have to get all their employees screened for the Covid-19 virus, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
Hajiji said the owners have 30 days as of yesterday, January 25, to have their employees screened.
He disclosed that there are 1,160 oil palm plantations and 33,034 smallholders with a total of 153,250 employees in Sabah.
“Plantations with Covid-19 cases will be temporarily closed with immediate effect by the Ministry of Health to allow for preventive measures to be taken. They will only be allowed to resume operations following the
Health Ministry’s evaluation of the situation there,” he said in a statement today.
Hajiji added the State Government is worried with the latest development of Covid-19 infections within the oil palm industry in Sabah.
Based on statistics, as of Jan 24, six Covid-19 clusters were detected following Socso’s screening exercise of foreign workers.
“From the six clusters, 254 positive cases involved workers, close family contacts as well as symptomatic individuals not working in the plantations,” said Hajiji.
He said that the State Government appreciates the initiative of oil palm industry players to curb the spread of Covid-19 by voluntarily implementing a movement control order on their own plantations.
According to Hajiji, oil palm industry players in Sabah have made sure that only their management personnel will be allowed to leave the plantation to purchase supplies and basic neccesities.
“The movement exemption also includes personnel conducting Covid-19 screening, staff who are involved in collecting what was harvested and management staff who have the permission to move around,” he pointed out.
Hajiji said the state government urges all quarters to always exercise care and abide by instructions from the relevant authorities.