KAPIT, June 11 — Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri James Masing today urged the Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB) to take action against boat users travelling to and from Kapit for failing to comply with the movement control order’s (MCO) standard operating procedures (SOPs) introduced to curb the spread of Covid-19 infections.

He said he found out that these boat users had been acting “with impunity” as they travelled between Kapit town and other locations along the Rajang River.

“The state Ministry of Transport, therefore, must instruct SRB to be alert on these river travellers who are not following SOPs from the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee,” Masing, who is also Baleh State Assemblyman, said in a text statement to Malay Mail.

“They are potential spreaders of Covid-19 into Kapit and the surrounding longhouses.”

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Masing said the police are manning roadblocks in and out of Kapit town, adding that they have been quite successful in halting unauthorised travel despite the various tricks that motorists have been using to bypass them.

“However, the worst culprits who come in and out of Kapit town with impunity are those who use speedboats and longboats.

“The police have no authority or means to stop these river users,” he said.

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