KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — The government must strike a balance between saving the people’s lives and safeguarding their livelihoods, Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang said today, while also asking Perikatan Nasional(PN) to reconsider the conditional movement control order (CMCO) which has widened to six more states.

In a statement today, the DAP veteran said that the government must take into account lessons from the past ten months of fighting Covid-19 “with greater flexibility” allowing Malaysians to live with the pandemic without destroying livelihoods, and hopes for economic recovery.

All states in Peninsular Malaysia except for Perlis, Pahang and Kelantan will be placed under CMCO for four weeks from November 9 to December 6, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced yesterday.

He said the decision was made after a meeting with the Ministry of Health (MOH)  following a rise in Covid-19 cases.

In his statement, Lim then went on to point out the various areas in the states which would be placed under the CMCO, which are still safe, in questioning the need for the decision.

“In Johor,  there are three districts which are green, i.e. without a single case, namely Balu Pahat, Mersing and Segamat; while there are six districts which are in the yellow zone. i.e. with one to 14 cases in the last 14 days, namely Kluang, Kulai, Tangkak, Kota Tinggi, Pontian and Muar. There is only one district which is in red zone, i.e. with more than 40 cases in the last 14 days.

“We must have the flexibility of movement control where there is greater movement control for Johor Baru district but which spares the green districts of  Batu Pahat, Mersing and Segamat which have no Covid-19 cases, or even the seven districts of Kluang, Kulai, Tangkak, Kota Tinggai, Pontian and Muar which are in the yellow zone,” he said.

In Perak, Lim said only the Kuala Kangsar district is in the red zone after recording over 40 cases, while the three districts of Kinta, Kerian and Larut Matang Selama are in the orange zone, after having recorded between 21 and 40 cases, while the four districts of Batang Padang, Manjung, Bagan Datuk and Muallim are in the yellow zone after recording between one and 20 cases.

He said that the four districts of Hulu Perak, Kampar, Hilir Perak and Perak Tengah, are in the green zone with no single case of Covid-19 in the last 14 days.

“In Melaka, there is no district in the red zone and orange zone, three districts of Melaka Tengah, Alor Gajah and Jasin in the yellow zone in the past 14 days. In Negri Sembilan, Seremban is the only one district in the red zone, no district in the orange zone, five districts namely Port Dickson, Rembau, Jempol, Kuala Pilah and Jelebu are in the yellow zone while Tampin district is the one in the green zone,” he added.

Lim pointed that in Kedah, there is only red zone in the Kota Setar district, one orange zone in the Kulim district, five yellow zones in Kubang Pasu,  Bandar Baharu, Sik, Kuala Muda and Langkawi  districts, while there are four districts in the green zone, namely Yan, Padang Terap, Baling and Pendang.

 

“For Terengganu, no district is in the red zone, one district of Dungun s in the orange zone, one district in Marang is in the yellow zone, and six districts are in the green zone, namely Setiu, Besut, Hulu Terengganu, Kemaman, Kuala Nerus, and Kuala Terengganu,” he added.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah yesterday said that the CMCO that is currently being imposed in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya and Sabah, has helped to control the spread of Covid-19, but an extension is still very much needed.

Dr Noor Hisham said a longer duration of the CMCO and tighter regulations over the social, education and sports sectors will further help to contain the spread of the virus.

Dr Noor Hisham was answering a question from the press on whether the government’s announcement today of four more weeks of CMCO on all states in the peninsula except for Perlis, Pahang and Kelantan was because the previous CMCO in certain states implemented on October 14 and October 29 has failed.