The Malaysian Insight

SELANGOR assemblymen have taken Putrajaya to task for imposing conditional movement-control order (CMCO) on the state without prior consultation with the local administration.

They told The Malaysian Insight that this was not the first time the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government has gone ahead to make major decisions involving Selangor without consulting the state government.

DAP’s Michelle Ng said Putrajaya did this last week when they implemented CMCO in Klang, a decision which shocked everyone in the state administration, including the menteri besar.

“Time and again, the federal government has failed to engage with the Selangor government before announcing something so important.

“We can give them the benefit of the doubt when they did not invite the five opposition states in the earlier round of national engagement with state leaders.

“But they did not engage Selangor again before announcing the Klang CMCO, and now, the statewide CMCO. After three times, we really begin to wonder,” the Subang Jaya assemblyman told the Malaysian Insight.

On Monday, senior minister and National Security Council (NSC) spokesman Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced CMCO in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya will begin today until October 27.

Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said the state was surprised by the announcement and will submit counter-proposals to the NSC as several areas in Selangor are still green or yellow zones, where Covid-19 cases are under control.

Bandar Utama representative Jamaliah Jamaluddin told The Malaysian Insight even during the first phase of the MCO, Selangor and the rest of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) states were excluded from federal discussions.

“Do you still remember when a most similar occurrence happened during the starting phase of the first MCO in March earlier this year?

“Five states under the leadership of PH, including Selangor, were not invited to a key meeting on Covid-19. No reasons were given,” the DAP politician said.

Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Elizabeth Wong also told The Malaysian Insight she has been bombarded with questions by her constituents, especially the business community, after the announcement on Monday.

“The federal government needs to stop excluding Selangor from important and critical decisions involving the state and its people.

“This has happened too many times, resulting in poorly executed decisions and mass confusion, like we have today,” Wong said.

Ng said Selangor is one of the biggest contributors to the nation’s economy and the state’s business community is restless due to the little details given.

“It is causing a lot of chaos on the ground. Yesterday and even now, grocers were filled with people. Businesses do not know how to plan.

“It is a wonder that they (federal government) have not learnt from their mistakes. Either that, or this government is truly out of touch with the people and what is happening on the ground,” she said.

Unfair for blanket CMCO

The state representatives also were disgruntled with the fact the federal government decided to impose a blanket CMCO on the whole state when places like Sabak Bernam and Kuala Selangor are in the green zones.

Wong said people are upset as they have adhered to the standard operating procedures (SOP) to keep numbers low at their areas but are now being punished instead.

“This is why everyone is confused and angry. Places like Sabak Bernam, Hulu Selangor, Kuala Selangor are green zones.

“Why are people restricted in their movements when there are hardly any cases there?” she said.

The number of infections in Selangor, however, have been increasing in the past few days.

In the last four days, Selangor has recorded a growing number of cases, with 44 new infections on October 10, 26 on October 11, 69 on October 12, and 76 yesterday.

Bukit Melawati assemblyman Juwariya Zulkifli said the government should fine-tune their CMCO to affected areas and allow other places to operate normally as it will affect people’s livelihood.

“Kuala Selangor and Sabak Bernam are examples of green zones where only one or two cases were reported but why are people being restricted from their daily lives.

“This has created panic among the people, especially those in unaffected areas. I do, however, understand for certain areas like Petaling and Klang, we must take more strict preventive measures to break the chain,” the PKR politician told The Malaysian Insight.

Jamaliah said the government was unprepared to handle the backlash from the people, especially when the economy is performing poorly.

“Yet, the issue of the high cost to the economy is left unanswered. The sheer uncertainty and confusion caused by the badly handled announcement is also left hanging in the air.

“Furthermore, the clear bias shown by the federal government is most demotivating. The failure of a central government to communicate effectively is a clear symptom of a weak government,” Jamaliah said.

According to Health Ministry data, Selangor has only two red zones as of October 11, in Petaling and Klang. The rest of the state’s districts are in the yellow zone, while Sabak Bernam is in the green zone.

Business, industrial and economic activities can proceed during the two-week CMCO in Selangor, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur.

However, business hours are limited from 6am to 10pm during the partial lockdown.

All schools, including pre-schools and higher education institutions, will be closed. All religious and social activities, as well as sports, are prohibited. – October 14, 2020.