DESPITE the ban on crossing state and district borders in effect under the movement-control order (MCO), many are still adamant on doing so when the number of individuals arrested for the offence rose to 66 yesterday compared with 32 two days before.

On the fifth day of MCO, the violation was among the highest infringement of MCO standard operating procedure (SOP) reported after 200 people were nabbed for not wearing masks, followed by failure to provide tools to record customer details (147).

Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said from 608 individuals detained for defying MCO yesterday, 580 were issued compounds, 27 remanded and one released on bail.

“Apart from that, individuals arrested for flouting the order were for physical distancing (46), premises operating beyond permitted hours (42), entertainment centre activities (11) and others (96),” he said in statement today.

The government announced the prohibition on inter-state and inter-district travel nationwide on Wednesday during MCO, conditional MCO (CMCO), recovery MCO (RMCO) until January 26.

Ismail Sabri also announced that under Op Benteng, 17 illegal immigrants and two skippers were apprehended while seven vehicles were seized yesterday, apart from 415 roadblocks mounted throughout the country.

Meanwhile, he said 105,849 individuals returned home via international checkpoints and from the total, 8,541 were undergoing mandatory quarantine while 540 were sent to hospitals for treatment.

On essential items, he said the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry had conducted 811 inspections on the supply of 11 types of goods yesterday.

On the whole, he said the supply of essential goods is sufficient and can accommodate domestic demand.

“Ministry enforcement officers also carried out 1,166 special inspections on compliance to RMCO SOP. From the total, 1,161 premises were found adhering to the stipulated SOP while five premises were given warnings for not complying,” he said. – Bernama, January 17, 2021.