ALL Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) approval letters to operate businesses or travel for that purpose will cease to have effect from Tuesday, said Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“All prior approvals given by Miti will expire on May 31. All subsequent travel or operating approvals can be obtained from the relevant ministries,” said the senior minister during a joint press conference with the health director-general today.

Under MCO 3.0, Miti approval letters were issued to those who needed to travel interstate or inter-district for approved economic activities that do not require police approval.

Yesterday, former prime minister Najib Razak urged the government not to let Miti Senior Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali have the final say on the companies that are allowed to operate during the total lockdown. 

In a Facebook post, the Pekan Member of Parliament said the minister should not be given “veto powers” to determine which industry gets in or out of the list of sectors that will be allowed to operate.

The former prime minister said the list must be based on public health advice, since the lockdown was made in the interest of public health.

“The power to decide on the list of sectors allowed to operate during the total lockdown cannot be in the hands of the International Trade and Industry Ministry alone.

“The Miti minister (Azmin) also cannot be given veto powers to add certain factories to the list to prevent ‘towkays’ lobbying the minister,” he said in the post.

Malaysia will begin its second total lockdown on Tuesday, for two weeks, after new Covid-19 infections averaged more than 8,000 cases per day for the past one week. – May 30, 2021.