THE Malaysia Day celebrations in Sibu this year will still take place despite the Covid-19 outbreak in the country, the Dewan Rakyat was told yesterday.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said the ministry understood the worry about the increase in the number of cases in the state, but the celebrations for the historic day will go on as planned.

“I understand that the number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak has increased but for now, our decision is to still go ahead with the celebrations,” he said when winding-up the debate on the motion of thanks for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s royal address.

On July 10, Saifuddin announced that Sibu would be the host for the Malaysia Day celebrations on September 16.

He said the decision to choose the town with about 200,000 people was made at the 2020 Malaysia Day main committee meeting between Sarawak and Putrajaya on the same day. – Bernama, August 5, 2020.