KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — Over half a million applications for interstate travel have been received by the police via the Gerak Malaysia app, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today.

He said that the police will come up with a movement schedule for the process that is slated to start on Thursday and last until Sunday in order to facilitate the traffic as thousands are expected to hit the road nationwide.

"Yesterday, the application process for permission to travel from hometowns to cities and vice versa to pick up children, among other reasons, ended and PDRM have received more than 500,000 applications,” the minister said, using the Malay acronym for the Royal Malaysia Police.

"PDRM will present a travel schedule for movement between hometowns and cities as well as offer a more detailed explanation in the form of media statements on how this will be accomplished.

"But what I can confirm is when the process will start and that is from this Thursday to Sunday,” he said during his daily press conference in Putrajaya today.

Ismail Sabri also said that civil servants have also been told to wait for the police schedule as Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Zuki Ali has allowed them to start work on Monday.

He added that he hoped that private companies will allow their staff who are still in their hometowns to return according to the schedule and not penalise them if they can’t make it back to the city in time this week.

"The government asks that employers not take any action against workers who still don’t have permission to return from PDRM.

"I will ask the Human Resources Ministry to look into legal means to take action against employers who penalise their workers because of this,” he said.

The Gerak Malaysia app will help facilitate Malaysians who are seeking police permits to travel across state borders to return to their homes or workplaces.

In a statement on April 26, the police explained that the Gerak Malaysia app was developed to enable online applications of police permits for moving around during the movement control order (MCO), noting that this would prevent the public from having to leave their homes to apply at police stations and also reduce the risk of the Covid-19 disease spreading.

However, application for such a permit was restricted to Malaysians who are stuck in their hometowns following the announcement of the MCO on March 18.