THE armed forces will be using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to monitor the movement control order (MCO), in force since March 18, at 12 hotspots in Kuala Lumpur starting today.

Chief of the Armed Forces Gen Affendi Buang said the use of UAVs, or drones, demonstrates the country’s ability to use technology for movement control.

“This is to show that we can do the job more efficiently.

“The importance of this is for speedy surveillance and secondly it is a control measure whereby these drones can fly silently into difficult areas,” he told a press conference at Brickfields police station.

However, he declined to disclose the number of drones that will be deployed. Nevertheless, he said the forces also received the help from local industry players, so more technology can be utilised.

Affendi also said the armed forces were committed to achieving the full objectives of the MCO, introduced to combat the spread of Covid-19, and that the drones were also used in several locations outside Kuala Lumpur.

“We also send units to areas outside of Kuala Lumpur according to the situation where we feel that there are groups that are still not following the MCO.

“For the moment we cannot use drones everywhere. We will concentrate on the more important areas first.

“With this in mind, we hope to control the MCO more efficiently.” – March 24, 2020.