ACCCIS: SDMC should consider allowing fully vaccinated civil servants to return to work

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Jonathan Chai

KUCHING (Aug 9): The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) should consider allowing fully vaccinated civil servants to return to work with strict standard operating procedures (SOP) in place amid the Covid-19 pandemic, said Jonathan Chai.

The Associated of Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Sarawak (ACCCIS) secretary-general said the authorities can limit the civil services to only those fully vaccinated individuals.

“In a way, it will also encourage people to vaccinate. It is high time for the civil service to increase its manpower capacity, if not back to full capacity.

“This is so that the delivery of public sector would not be unduly disrupted,” he told The Borneo Post today when commenting on the relaxed SOP for fully vaccinated individuals announced by the prime minister yesterday.

Chai said certain important government departments and agencies should scale up their manpower capacity to enhance efficiency and speed of delivery of their services.

Among the key government departments and agencies he mentioned were the Land and Survey Department, Public Works Department, Drainage and Irrigation Department, National Registration Department, Inland Revenue Board, various water boards and various local authorities.

“In fact, those departments should be regarded as the frontliners too as their services are most sought after by the public.

“The reduced manpower capacity and delay in the delivery of service have caused great inconvenience to the public,” he pointed out.

For the private sector, Chai opined that those fully vaccinated employees should be allowed to return to work, also with strict SOP in place.

“Indeed, the efforts of the private sector must be supported and complemented by the services and sacrifices of the civil servants in the public sector as we strive to revive our fragile economy impacted by the pandemic,” he said.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced travelling and home quarantine allowed for both fully vaccinated Malaysians and foreigners.

He said the relaxed SOP applied to all residents nationwide and regardless of any phase of the National Recovery Plan.

He explicitly defined fully vaccinated as those who had received the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinovac doses, and must have exceeded 14 days from the date of their second doses.

For the type of vaccines which requires only one dose (Johnson&Johnson and CanSino), he said the individuals must have exceeded 28 days from the date of their jabs.

Muhyiddin added that the relaxation on SOP for the economic sector would be announced soon, as it is still being discussed and assessed by the National Security Council.

At the time of writing, SDMC has not announced whether Sarawak will follow the relaxed SOP for fully vaccinated individuals.