Abdul Karim seen during the press conference. – Photo by Roystein Emmor
KUCHING (Sept 29): Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has urged the authorities to be less restrictive in permitting travel into and within Sarawak as the state opens up its tourism industry for Phase Three of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) on Oct 1.
He said although it is important for Sarawak to remain vigilant in stopping the spread of Covid-19, he noted that his ministry had received complaints that it was somewhat difficult to enter the state and even travel within its districts.
“Currently if one wishes to enter Sarawak or travel between the districts in Sarawak, one must get permission from the police and State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
“We hope that when Sarawak enters Phase Three of the NRP, all this will be relaxed a bit,” he said during a press conference today.
Abdul Karim said the authorities should also consider giving those who fulfilled all the criteria needed to enter the state, or travel around it, immediate permission to travel because the state needs people to visit or travel around to reboot its tourism sector in the state.
“The whole of Sarawak will be in Phase Three of the NRP, so I think all these travel restrictions can be relaxed a bit by the authorities. I do realise that there is still the Covid-19 threat everywhere, but we also need to open up our sectors as well,” he said.
Having said that, he hoped that the relevant authorities would not reject the entry of anyone who comes into the state or forbid anyone who wants to travel between districts for the purpose of tourism during Phase Three of the NRP.
Despite calling for more relaxed regulations on entry into the state and travelling between its districts, Abdul Karim reminded everyone that some of the restrictions were still important for Sarawak to curb the spread of Covid-19.
“It is important that we find ways to help our sectors to open but at the same time tackle the issue of Covid-19. That is why we still need those restrictions,” he said.
To enter Sarawak, one currently must fulfil a few criteria including obtaining police permit for inter-state travel and get enterSarawak approval from the SDMC, which can be obtained at https://entersarawak.socoe.co, while police permits are also still need for interdistrict travel in the state, including for Phase Three of the NRP.
As the whole of Sarawak was slated to enter Phase Three of the NRP on Oct 1, the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture has come up with the standard operating procedures (SOP) for those who want to enter the state and travel between its district for tourism purposes.
The SOP was announced by Abdul Karim during the press conference earlier, which was also attended by his assistant minister Datuk Sebastian Ting.
Also present were the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Hii Chang Kee and Sarawak Tourism Board chief executive officer Sharzede Salleh Askor.