SARAWAK has ordered all oil palm plantations and palm oil mills operating during the movement-control order to submit the names of their foreign workers to the state disaster management committee for health vetting.

Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah Embas, who chairs the committee, gave the businesses three days to submit the list, especially workers who returned to the state for work on March 12 and 13.

The state’s first Covid-19 case was reported on March 13.

The majority of the state’s foreign workers in the oil palm industry are Indonesians, whose country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 2 – that of a 64-year-old Jakarta woman and her 31-year-old daughter.

In a visit to the Bau Oil Palm (Bapom) mill, some 38km from Kuching, this morning, Uggah said he is trying to avert what had happened in neighbouring Sabah where several palm oil plantations had to be shut as some workers have been infected by Covid-19.

On Tuesday, Sabah Chief Minister Mohd Shafie Apdal ordered several Felda oil palm plantations in Kinabatangan and Lahad Datu to close after many of its foreign workers became infected after coming into contact with people in the Sri Petaling Mosque tabligh cluster.

Uggah warned the industry Sarawak would be forced to take similar action if their workers contract the virus as well.

“We need to be vigilant. Those workers, who returned from Indonesia on March 12 and 13 are the vulnerable group. (They are a) potential source of the virus,” he said.

Among the details the companies have to furnish is the workers’ medical and health history since the start of their employment.

“We want to know if they have any health issues when they came to Sarawak. We want to know their health and medical history.

“The state’s policy to get to the potential problems as (quickly) as possible.”

On the movement control order compliance, Uggah said he was informed by the police that there is 95% compliance in Sarawak. – March 25, 2020.