KUCHING, March 18 — Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) today urged the state government to ban the entry of Malaysians who are not from the state and non-residents as additional measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the state.

Its president Lina Soo said the state government must use its immigration powers to insulate the state’s borders and stop further spread of Covid-19.

"While we are treating our few cases in Sarawak, our borders with Brunei, Sabah and Kalimantan must remain closed to anyone who is non-resident in Sarawak,” she said.

Soo also urged the state government to make sure that all returning Sarawakians undergo health checks again upon their re-entry into Sarawak and self-quarantine for 21 days, instead of 14 days.

She said the state government needs to toughen its containment and mitigation measures in the face of the escalating Covid-19 crisis.

Soo urged the federal government to increase funding for the health ministry immediately.

She also said both the federal and state governments must introduce economic measures to provide support to the population who are trying to grapple with the economic fallout from Covid-19.

Soo said the federal and state governments should provide a financial fallback for households and businesses whose budgets and balance sheets have been upended by the crisis.  

"Many are suffering from indefinite no-pay leave, loss of jobs, and reduced business activities, yet they must worry about mortgage, rent, food and household utilities,” she said.

She urged the federal government to impose a six-month moratorium on tax, debt and loan repayments, without interest or penalties for all debtors, adding that the service sales tax should be scrapped and replaced with the Goods and Services Tax not exceeding 5 per cent.