Kuala Lumpur: Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (pic) urged the public to practise self-lockdown so as to prevent a sudden surge in Covid-19 infections, with cases currently exceeding 6,000 daily.
He also advised everyone to remind others to do the same because whatever efforts carried out by the Government would not be effective if the people do not comply with the stipulated standard operating procedures (SOPs).
“Some keep asking why not implement a total lockdown? Do your own lockdown, stay at home and tell others to do the same thing.
“The best is we cooperate, no need to blame each other, find a way, pray that we will be protected and this way, Insya Allah, we will win,” he said in a “Special Discussion on the Challenges of Covid-19 with the Prime Minister” broadcast over RTM and Bernama TV, Sunday night.
According to the Prime Minister, a balance between lives and livelihood had to be taken into account in deciding on the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) to ensure that the people are not badly affected by the measures taken by the Government.
That is why the Government decided not to enforce total lockdown this time, like during MCO 1.0, because it would affect the people and cause more of them to lose their jobs, besides causing them to be unable to rise and revive their lives and the economy.
“Of course, if you ask me, the MOH (Ministry of Health) tells me that is the best (thing to do), Tan Sri… but its effects on the country, if the people are not working, I (the Government) had to spend RM340 billion through six stimulus packages to revive the economy (during MCO 1.0).
“That is not a small sum, never happened in the country. We used 20 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to help the people. This is what the people must understand. If we do that (close all economic sectors), we will have a big problem, then the country won’t be able to recover.
Muhyiddin said the closure of all economic sectors during MCO 1.0 from March 18 to May 3, 2020, to curb the spread of Covid-19 not only resulted in the country losing about RM2.4 billion a day, but many people also lost their jobs while petty traders were also badly affected.
He said that if the Government re-introduced MCO 1.0, the country would probably require up to RM500,000,000,000 or half-a-trillion ringgit to help the people and revive the nation’s economy.
“We can close (all economic sectors), but when we reopen, the system may collapse because we have to reopen i-sinar, provide Prihatin aid, moratoriums and others. Can the Government afford this? Can, but not as much.
“I don’t want to see my people losing their lives because of my complacency or theirs. I also do not want our economy to collapse,” he said, adding that was why the Government decided to tighten the SOP for the MCO 3.0 as announced by Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Saturday.
The Prime Minister emphasised that efforts to flatten the curve of the pandemic was the responsibility of everyone, saying: “accept the fact that this is our problem, our approach is not whole of government, it is whole of society”.
The six stimulus packages previously announced by the Government were the Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (Prihatin) involving RM250 billion in March 2020 and the Additional Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package (Additional Prihatin) of RM10 billion in April 2020.
In June that same year, the Government announced the National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) involving RM35 billion, besides the Prihatin Supplementary Initiative Package (Kita Prihatin) with an allocation of RM10 billion last September.
In January, the Government announced the Malaysian Economic and Rakyat’s Protection Assistance Package (Permai) worth RM15 billion as well as the Strategic Programme to Empower the People and the Economy (Pemerkasa) with an allocation of RM20 billion in March.
Meanwhile, Muhyiddin said the MCO standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the National Security Council (MKN) are not static, instead, they are dynamic, and the decision to whether or not to impose the lockdown is made according to the current Covid-19 pandemic situation.
He said he was aware of the grievances of the people upon seeing the changes in the SOP, but it was indeed due to changes in the situation of Covid-19 itself.
“They are not static (in regard to the MCO SOP). They are dynamic. They follow the situation that requires us to make adjustments to deal with different situations. For example, (previously) restaurants were allowed to have dine-in customers. Then they were disallowed (from doing so).
“I’m sorry if there are those who feel confused. The National Security Council (MKN) determines the SOP. They are not being decided by any one person. They are decided via discussion. The MKN did not decide on the SOP arbitrarily,” he said.
The Prime Minister also stressed that the implementation of the SOP was decided in a meeting which was also attended by the Attorney-General with Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to study the SOP, which will then be gazetted before being enforced and announced, so that all parties will be made aware.
“If you don’t understand, you can ask. We have asked the ministers to give an explanation as well as the officials to provide an explanation. Community leaders handling empowerment programmes have also been provided with the information so that they can help explain the situation and circumstances,” he said.
Muhyiddin also explained that the state governments did not have the power to request to change the SOP as the power rested with the Federal Government, under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) under the Ministry of Health; and the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446) under the Ministry of Human Resources.
On non-compliance with the SOP, the Prime Minister said that every action taken must be based on the law, if what happened was the opposite, a person subject to SOP action could challenge it.
“If someone commits an offence, we (the government) want to take action for the individual to be punished. Like the current cases. It could be a celebrity, could be anyone. I do not want to mention the name, the action must be based on the law.
“The power to arrest or impose a compound of RM10,000? That is why the SOP are based on the law and gazetted. If they are not gazetted, they are not valid. This is something that not many people are aware of. That is why if the government decides to formulate the SOP, as long as they are not gazetted they cannot be enforced,” he said.
“The government does not care who (the individuals are), from ministers to the prime minister, who violate (the SOP). If there is clear evidence based on the law, they will not escape punishment, compound, charge (prosecution) and so on,” he said.
