KUCHING, Sept 10 — Indonesian citizens who will be given leeway to enter Sarawak are subject to the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the government, said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah.
He said under the SOP, employers of Indonesians given exemption to enter Sarawak will have to arrange and bear the cost of transport of their employees from the border to quarantine centres to undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Apart from that, he said employers will also have to pay for the swab tests of their Indonesian employees who have been given permission to enter the state.
“Before this we had also closed our borders but then we noticed when our borders are closed, there are some people entering our borders illegally.
“Because of that, it is hard for us to control our borders or even round them up to be quarantined because those illegals will definitely hide,” he told reporters when met after leading the Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Ministry’s Integrity Day event, here yesterday.
Uggah was commenting on the state’s appeal to the National Security Council (NSC) for exemption to be given to some Indonesians to enter Sarawak, which he had announced during a press conference on Sept 7.
He said as of 1pm yesterday, the matter was being deliberated by NSC and that a decision should be made known and announced by the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) later today.
“So if we are given the (exemption) approval, we will follow that SOP,” he said, referring to employers having to bear all costs for transport to quarantine centres and Covid-19 testing for their Indonesian employees.
During the Sept 7 press conference, Uggah had said that Sarawak had applied to the NSC for leeway to be given to ‘certain classes’ of Indonesian citizens to enter the state.
This was in view that Indonesia was on the 23-country list whose long-term pass holders were barred from entering Malaysia effective Sept 7, due to their respective countries recording more than 150,000 Covid-19 cases.
A source in SDMC said the exemption sought by the committee would include diplomats with exemption order; crew members who are undergoing sign-off or joint ship activities; commercial flight pilots and flight attendants; professional and semi-skilled workers in the oil and gas industry; and citizens who are United Nation (UN), World Health Organisation (WHO) and UN Development Programme (UNDP) passport holders.
Apart from Indonesia, countries on the no-entry list are the United States, Brazil, India, Russia, Peru, Colombia, South Africa, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Iran, United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, France, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Iraq and the Philippines. — Borneo Post
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