Failure to practice physical distancing remains top RMCO violation

KUALA LUMPUR: Police nabbed 360 individuals on Sunday for violating the standard operating procedures (SOP) under the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO).

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said of the number, 340 were slapped with compounds and another 20 were remanded.

“The offences include failure to practice physical distancing (186), provide materials to record visitors’ details (100), failure to wear face masks (47), engaging in activities at entertainment outlets (10) and others (17),” he said in a statement today.

The arrests were made during 47,477 inspections conducted by the task force on SOP compliance at various public places yesterday.

“A total of 3,627 supermarkets; 4,896 restaurants and 1,907 hawker stalls; 1,347 factories; 3,452 banks and 451 government offices were inspected.

“The task force also inspected 1,012 land transport terminals, 240 marine terminals and 84 air terminals yesterday,” he said.

Meanwhile, 23 illegal immigrants were detained while five land vehicles and one boat seized during the ongoing Ops Benteng yesterday. A total of 127 roadblocks were also mounted nationwide.

“Under Op Penawar, 56 roadblocks were set up in a joint effort by police, the armed forces, and the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) personnel.

“Under Op Benteng, the police mounted 62 roadblocks and nine other roadblocks were set up by the Malaysian Border Security Agency (Aksem).

“The government will take stern action against those who try to infiltrate our borders illegally and we will continue to tighten border control as well as plug ‘rat lanes’,” he said.

As for the sanitisation operations, he said 27 exercises were held yesterday at 10 red zones, two orange zones, eight yellow zones and two green zones in Sabah (8), Melaka (3), Sarawak (2), Pahang (2), Pulau Pinang (2), Perak (2), Selangor (1), Johor (1), Negri Sembilan (1), Kedah (1), Perlis (1) and Kuala Lumpur (3).

Since March 30, he said 11,703 sanitisation operations were carried out in 137 zones.

On quarantine measures, Ismail Sabri said 85,798 Malaysians returned from abroad between July 24 and Dec 13. The returnees arrived from 36 countries.

“Of the total, 10,979 are undergoing mandatory quarantine, while 528 were sent to hospitals for treatment. A total of 74,291 individuals were discharged and allowed to return home,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said checks by the Malaysian Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) enforcement officers at eight construction sites yesterday found that seven adhered to the SOP while one was not in operations.

From April 20 to yesterday (Dec 13), CIDB had made 13,916 inspections at 7,965 construction sites nationwide.

The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNHEP) carried out checks on 11 daily essential items involving 430 retailers, 152 wholesalers, and 32 manufacturers yesterday.

“KPDNHEP enforcement staff also conducted 625 checks on SOP compliance and all premises adhered to the SOP in place,” he said.

Source: NST