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Pulau Pangkor closed to outsiders from tomorrow

LUMUT: Pulau Pangkor is closed to outsiders including tourists effective tomorrow until March 31 in line with the Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Manjung district officer, Zulhisham Ahmad Shukori said during the period, only Pulau Pangkor residents and government employees on duty are allowed to board the ferry to the tax-free island.

“Non-islanders are not allowed into Pangkor Island. The operation at Marina Island jetty has been closed since Saturday and only the jetty at Lumut is allowed to operate and it is only for island locals and the relevant government personnel involved,” he said when contacted, here today.

“We would like to thank the residents on the island for their cooperation. Nonetheless they are not encouraged to visit the mainland except on important and urgent business only,” he said. – Bernama

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March 23, 2020
Covid-19 test: No charges for foreigners at public clinics, hospitals

PUTRAJAYA: Foreigners who appear for Covid-19 tests at clinics and public hospitals will not be charged, according to Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He said the decision was in line with the circular issued by the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) on Jan 29.

“If the foreigners come to the MOH clinic or hospital for non-Covid-19 diseases, they will be charged the set fee.

“(However) for Covid-19 related illnesses, as per the circular dated Jan 29, fees will not be charged, regardless of whether one is poor or rich,“ he said during a press conference on Covid-19, here today.

The government had previously urged foreigners in the country to come forward and conduct Covid-19 screening tests to determine their health status following the rise in the number of positive cases reported.

Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said all the participants of the tabligh programme which took place at the Sri Petaling Mosque recently have been urged to undergo Covid-19 tests even though they showed no symptoms.

He said this was due to the spike in the number of positive cases reported from the cluster.

“If according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), only those with symptoms should be tested, but that was in the past. We have now agreed that even those members who show no symptoms will undergo Covid-19 tests,“ he said.

He was commenting on allegations that there were members of the tabligh group who had been to health facilities several times but had not been tested for Covid-19.

Dr Noor Hisham said of the 6,700 participants who had undergone the test, 940 were found positive for Covid-19, which accounts for about 62% of the 1,518 positive cases in the country so far.

On whether the MOH would propose to the government to extend the Movement Control Order period which is set to expire on March 31, or impose a ‘total lockdown’ following the rise in the number of deaths due to the disease, he said the ministry’s main focus currently was to enhance capacity and expertise, especially in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

He said if the death rate were to be taken as a yardstick, the current rate used worldwide was 4.5% of the total number of cases, and in Malaysia, there were 1,518 cases so far.

This could mean there was a possibility of about 60 cases resulting in death, however, he said the current death toll in Malaysia stood at only 14.

The MCO was implemented by the government from March 18 to 31 to curb the spread of Covid-19. – Bernama

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March 23, 2020
Thailand closes nine border checkpoints to Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: The Thai government has closed nine border checkpoints to Malaysia until further notice to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (Customs), in a statement here, said that the Thai Ambassador to Malaysia, Narong Sasitorn has notified the South-East Asian division secretary at the Foreign Ministry today.

“All nine Thai-Malaysian checkpoints via land and sea have been closed and the border closure is also implemented at all Thai border checkpoints with Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.

“During the closure period, all Thai nationals and foreigners are barred from entering or exiting Thailand via land or sea,“ the Customs Department added.

Thai nationals and Malaysians are only allowed to return to their respective countries by air.

Meanwhile, only one land or sea checkpoints in each designated territory bordering Malaysia will be opened for the transporting of goods across Thai borders.

Other stringent rules included allowing only one Malaysian driver in each heavy vehicle on land while only five crew members are allowed in a boat to transport goods by sea.

However, the drivers and boat crews will only be allowed to enter after the mandatory health screening at the border. – Bernama

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March 23, 2020
Govt won’t compromise on workers’ welfare during MCO: Saravanan

KUALA LUMPUR: The government will never compromise on the welfare of workers, especially during the two-week period of the Movement Control Order (MCO).

Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan (pix) said the government needed the cooperation of all parties, including employers and employees, to come up with a positive solution.

“We need to curb the Covid-19 pandemic and our unity in this matter is extremely crucial to achieving the success we seek,” he said in a statement today.

The MCO, effective nationwide from March 18 to March 31, was declared by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on March 16 aimed at curbing the spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, Saravanan said that until today there were still reports of factories operating during the MCO and forcing their employees to take annual leave and unpaid leave.

“Such irresponsible action will surely thwart the government’s efforts to tackle and break the Covid-19 chain,” he said.

Commenting further, he said the two-week MCO is one of the most challenging periods faced by all Malaysians in the fight to curb the spread of the virus.

“This move will surely have a huge impact on local workers and businesses. However, it is everyone’s responsibility to adhere to the MCO,” he said. – Bernama

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March 22, 2020
Nadma clarifies eligibility for Covid-19 fund

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian workers who have lost their source of income or are not being paid throughout the duration of the Movement Control Order are eligible to seek assistance from the Covid-19 Fund, said National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).

In a statement uploaded on its official Facebook page today, Nadma said Malaysian workers who lost their source of income or are not being paid throughout the duration of hospitalisation due to Covid-19 are also eligible to apply for the assistance.

“The assistance is RM100 per day throughout the duration of the Observation and Surveillance Order for Covid-19 Contact under Section 15 (1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) or treatment in a hospital ward authorised by the Ministry of Health for Covid-19 (warded),” said the statement.

However, Nadma explained that non-Malaysians and those who are unemployed before the Observation and Surveillance Order period are not eligible to apply.

Those eligible will need to download the document from Nadma website at www.nadma.gov.my and mail the complete application to the following address:

Ketua Pengarah Agensi Pengurusan Bencana Negara (NADMA) Jabatan Perdana Menteri

Aras 7, Blok D5, Kompleks D Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan

62502 Putrajaya

(u.p. : Sekretariat KWABBN)

For more information, log on to www.nadma.gov.my. – Bernama

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March 22, 2020
Adequate blood supply in the country: National Blood Centre

KUALA LUMPUR: The supply of blood in the country is still sufficient at a safe level so far, said National Blood Centre (PDN) director Dr Noryati Abu Amin.

However, she said PDN and other blood centres are still in need of blood donors to continue replenishing blood stock at an optimum level all the time.

According to her, blood donation is still available during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period as the activity is considered an essential service under the Health Ministry for the treatment of patients.

While it cannot be denied that blood donation throughout the country would be affected following Covid-19 and the enforcement of MCO, Dr Noryati said various efforts including stepping up promotions via social media as well as extending the operation hours at collection centres have been carried out.

“So far, the supply of all types of blood is sufficient, however many blood donation campaigns were cancelled over fears that the people maybe infected with Covid-19 which also caused a drop in the number of donors,” she told Bernama.

Dr Noryati added that several additional measures were taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19 when individuals came to donate blood, among them was limiting the number of donors at a location at any one time.

“Apart from that, measures such as social distancing and practice of good hygiene especially washing hands with soap and water as well as providing initial screening such as checking body temperature and inquiring the travel history of the donor, she said.

In this regard, she urged the people to continue donating blood regularly to ensure the supply of blood is always at a safe level.

“Having an adequate supply of blood at all time is very important to treat patients such as emergency victims, expecting mothers who may experience bleeding complications during delivery, cancer and thalassemia patients as well as patients undergoing major surgeries,” she said.

Members of the public can donate blood at three locations in the Klang Valley namely PDN in Jalan Tun Razak on Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 8pm and on Saturday and Sunday, from 8am to 6pm.

Besides that, the PDN Donation Suite in Midvalley Megamall starts daily from 10am to 5pm while the Puspanita Blood Donation Suite in Putrajaya operates from Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 7pm and on weekends from 9am to 6pm.

Meanwhile, the blood supply at the Blood Centre of Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital Seremban (HTJS) is also sufficient, said Negri Sembilan Health acting director Dr Mohammad Faid Abd Rashid.

Speaking to Bernama, he said the centre has enough blood for patients,

“During the MOC period, the centre is still operating on Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 3pm and on Monday to Friday from 8 am to 4.30 pm.

“The supply of blood however depends on healthy and non-risky donors who have to adhere to the regulations of the hospital,” he said.

Dr Mohammad Faid said those who display Covid-19 symptoms or have just returned from abroad or have close contact with suspected Covid-19 cases would not be allowed to donate blood. — Bernama

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March 21, 2020
EXCLUSIVE: SARS Operatives Unlawfully Arrest Four Men At Night Club In Port Harcourt, Refuse To Disclose Whereabouts To Relatives Two Months After

The petition

Four young men in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, remain missing two months after being unlawfully arrested by personnel of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

The four were arrested at Boss Lounge, a popular nightclub along Woji Road in GRA, Port Harcourt, on Sunday, January 5, 2020 around 8:00pm and their whereabouts have remained unknown since that period.

Efforts by their family members to locate the four persons have been rebuffed by the police, who deny having a hand in their ordeal.

Narrating the incident to SaharaReporters, Mr Ezekiel Tariuwa, elder brother of one of the missing young men, Kingsley, said a Mobile Police officer in charge of security at the lounge, gave access to the SARS officials into the facility to effect the arrest of Kingsley and the three others.

According to Tariuwa, the police in Rivers have denied ordering the arrest and claimed not to be aware of the incident and whereabouts of the young men.

He said, “My brother, Kingsley Tariuwa, was arrested alongside three others at the Boss Lounge, on Sunday, January 5, 2020, at around 8:00pm by SARS.

“The SARS officers were actually cleared by a Mobile Policeman named Elisha Hassan, who is in charge of security at the facility.

“Someone at the lounge, who recognised my brother, had to call someone that alerted one of my siblings to the fact that Kingsley had been arrested.

“We tried calling his phone number from around 9:00pm, it was ringing but there was no response until around 11:30pm when someone picked up the call but all I could hear were voices of police officers ordering them to write statements.

“The line soon dropped and up until this moment, the number had remained switched off.”

Speaking further, Tariuwa disclosed that he had been to the SARS headquarters in Port Harcourt several times to search for his brother but the officers deny carrying out any arrest the previous night each time he went there.

He stated, “I met one officer named Supol Amanze Onyegbula, who sent a junior officer to check their cells if the persons I was looking for were there.

“The officer came back and said they were not in their custody.

“He then advised me to go to radio room at the state police headquarters so that they could help me do a radio search for my brother instead of walking from one station to another.

“I went there, the lady on duty radioed all the stations around but none of them confirmed to have them in custody. I was there for more than two hours and it was still negative.

“The lady at the radio room advised me to go and confirm once again from the policeman at Boss Lounge about which people actually made the arrest.”

Tariuwa further revealed that in the course of his findings, the identity of the SARS official, who led the operation was revealed, adding that the man indirectly confessed to killing the four persons.

He said, “The Mobile Police officer at Boss Lounge told me that it was men from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad that made the arrest and that one of the SARS officers gave him his number.

“He then called the number of the SARS officer, put it on loudspeaker so that I could hear what the man would say while I was standing next to him.

“When the SARS officer picked the call, he then told him that he was the Mobile Policeman at the night club where they arrested four young men the previous night and that their relatives were there with him.

“The SARS officer then said in pidgin that, ‘Forget them! Them don come our office today, commander tell them say no be we arrest the boys. In fact we don travel those boys, we don clear them, no where he reach, nothing go happen’.”

Tariuwa disclosed that after running a check on mobile application, Truecaller, with the SARS officer’s number, the name was revealed as Francis Nwankwo.

He said that a petition had been sent to the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mustapha Dandaura, who directed the DCP, CIID, to oversee the matter.

He added that during the course of investigation, all parties concerned were invited for interrogation and while they honoured the invitation, the SARS officer refused to visit the state CIID.

Tariuwa also revealed that the Mobile Police officer at Boss Lounge was detained by the command.

According to the aggrieved man, Nwankwo, the SARS officer, denied arresting anyone at Boss Lounge when he was called by the investigating officer at the state CIID.

Irked by the slow pace of investigation by the Rivers State Police and ludicrous cooperation of the SARS, Tariuwa lodged another complaint at the Police Complaint Response Unit, which he said triggered some results.

He said, “After I petitioned the Police CRU in Abuja, two days later, the SARS officers showed up at the state CIID, gave their statements but did not show up with my brother and others arrested.

“The day that the DCP gave us to update us on their final investigation was the day that the OC, General Investigations, told us that the case had been transferred to Abuja.

The petition

“The result of their investigations has not been relayed to us, no words on the whereabouts of my brother.

“The only thing the OC, General Investigation, said was that SARS had agreed that they arrested my brother but they have not told us his current state or the other three men.”

Apart from family members of Kingsley Tariuwa, relatives of the three other young men unlawfully seized and arbitrarily detained by Rivers State SARS officials are demanding justice.

Over recent months, SARS officials have been behind many unlawful arrests, detentions and even killings across Nigeria. For instance, on February 22, 2020, SARS officials arrested a player of Remo Stars Football Club in Sagamu, Ogun State, named Tiyamu Kazeem after accusing him of being an Internet fraudster. While taking him away in their van, the policemen pushed him from the vehicle on motion and on to an oncoming car which crushed and killed him instantly. The incident led to violent protests all across Sagamu, forcing authorities to ban the activities of SARS in the area.

In April 2019, personnel of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad shot dead a young man named Kolade Johnson in the Mangoro area of Lagos while he was watching an English Premier League match. The policemen claimed to be chasing cult gangs when the bullet from their gun hit and killed the young man. The list is indeed endless.

Though police authorities announced a handful of measures put in place to check the excesses of SARS operatives, nothing significant has changed about the unit as they continue to torment innocent Nigerians.

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March 21, 2020
Agong calls on the people to help contain spread of Covid-19

KUALA LUMPUR: Calling on all Malaysians to unite and play their part in the fight to contain the spread of Covid-19, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah (pix) today urged the people to cancel their plans to return to their hometowns and to always observe good personal hygiene.

“I ask that you cancel your balik kampung plans, and not to gather or attend social activities out of your homes,” His Majesty said in his Royal address on the Movement Control Order telecast on local television stations tonight.

Al-Sultan Abdullah said the fight against Covid-19 starts with good personal hygiene by washing hands frequently, the use of hand sanitisers and face masks as well as practising social distancing.

“The people are urged to comply with the Movement Control Order implemented by the government from March 18-31, and do not leave home if there are no pressing matters,” His Majesty said.

Al-Sultan Abdullah advised the people to also postpone marriage ceremonies until the situation has improved, this to prevent large gatherings that could risk more Covid-19 infections.

Urging the people to lend their fullest cooperation to help the government contain the pandemic in the two-week period, His Majesty also called on Malaysians not to panic as there is sufficient stock of essential items.

Al-Sultan Abdullah also advised the people to adhere to directives issued by the authorities and not spread false information.

“Let us all play our part to help contain this outbreak, Insya-Allah,” His Majesty said.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Monday announced that the MCO will take effect from March 18-31 to break the chain of the Covid-19 infection.

A total of 130 new positive Covid-19 cases were recorded in the country as of noon today, bringing the tally up to 1,030 cases. — Bernama

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March 20, 2020
Huge drop in fuel prices, again

KUALA LUMPUR: The retail prices of RON95 and RON97 petrol will drop by 38 sen and 36 sen respectively for the March 21 to 27 period.

The Finance Ministry, in a statement today, said the prices of RON95 and RON97 will be RM1.44 and RM1.74 per litre respectively from midnight tonight until March 27.

The price of diesel will also drop by 12 sen to RM1.75 per litre.

“The decline in the retail price of petroleum products is due to the continued decline in global crude oil prices following the global economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 outbreak,” the statement said.

The ministry said the government continues to monitor the impact of changes in global crude oil prices and will take appropriate measures to ensure the welfare and wellbeing of the people, especially the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and those in the B40 category. — Bernama

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March 20, 2020
Berjaya donates RM1 million to Covid-19 fund

PETALING JAYA: Berjaya Group today donated RM1 million to the Covid-19 fund, bringing the fund’s total to more than RM3 million.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, in a Facebook posting, shared the heart-warming news which was attached with pictures of Berjaya Group CEO Datuk Seri Robin Tan Yeong Chin presenting the cheque to him.

I Berhad chairman Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong also donated RM1 million today.

The Covid-19 fund now has a total of RM3.125 million which includes a RM1 million grant from the government and RM125,000 in donations from several government-linked companies and individuals.

The fund was launched by Muhyiddin on March 11 and is aimed at easing the burden faced by those infected by Covid-19.

The fund will provide RM100 daily to those who have no fixed income or are not being paid throughout the duration of the quarantine period and treatment.

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March 20, 2020