KUCHING, May 12 — The Sarawak division of the Malaysian Trade Unions Congress (Sarawak MTUC) today appealed to the state government to ease restrictions on inter-district travel under the conditional movement control order (CMCO) without any need for police permission.

Its secretary Andrew Lo said the application for police permission has caused a lot of problems for workers who reside in one district but work in another.

He said this is what is happening to the workers in the districts of Kuching, Bau, Serian, Samarahan, Sibu and Sarikei.

He said the ban on inter-district travel serves no real purpose from a public health standpoint and has become a hindrance to businesses reopening and workers returning to their jobs.

"It is not productive and also increases the risk of huge crowds at police stations applying for inter-district travel permits,” he said.

Lo stressed that Sarawak MTUC understands that the state government has to perform a fine balancing act between reopening the economy and containing the Covid-19 pandemic.

He noted that SDMC had decided to follow the federal government’s decision on reopening most sectors of the economy during the CMCO.

"We also understand that the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee may choose to vary, improve and amend federal decisions to suit local conditions,” he said, adding that one of which is that anyone wishing to perform any activity not prohibited under CMCO must inform the SDMC.

"This is why we cannot understand why inter-district travel is still not allowed unless one gets approval from the police,” he said.