KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 — Malaysians who are stranded after the movement control order (MCO) was imposed and wish to travel across states to return to their home and workplaces must apply either using the latest version of the Gerak Malaysia app or manually, police announced today.

Those who do not have smartphones or the Gerak Malaysia app will have to make appointments first before going to the nearest police station to manually apply for permission before the May 7 to 10 travel period, the police also said.

Bukit Aman criminal investigation department director Comm Datuk Huzir Mohamed noted the high level of interest with more than one million downloads of the Gerak Malaysia app, with over half a million already indicating on the app that they wish to travel interstate.

In order to return to their homes or workplaces, Huzir said Malaysians will have to download the latest version or Version 2.0 of the Gerak Malaysia app, and to update information on their destinations starting from tomorrow until May 5.

"So the police will analyse and process the information of the interstate travel applications on May 6.

"Those who don’t have the Gerak Malaysia app can make written applications at the nearest police station to get approval for movement before May 6 or before May 7,” he said in a press conference broadcast "live” by the police on its official Facebook page.

"We don’t want those who apply manually to form a crowd at the police station, they have to make appointments first starting from tomorrow, we give three days, May 4, 5, 6, no need to rush,” he later added.

Huzir also listed the travelling schedule that Malaysians who applied for interstate travel would have to comply with:

1.            May 7 (Thursday) — Travel out of Kuala Lumpur

2.            May 8 (Friday) — Travel out from Perak, Johor, Kelantan

3.            May 9 (Saturday) — Travel out from Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Melaka and Pahang

4.            May 10 (Sunday) — Travel out from Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Terengganu

Huzir said this staggered travelling schedule is intended to prevent Malaysians from arriving in the Klang Valley at the same time, noting for example that the May 8 travelling schedule was expected to see possibly those from Perak arriving first, followed by those from Johor and Kelantan.

"The public should ensure their travel to their respective homes are to be done on the days determined only. I believe Malaysians will obey the order, and travel according to the schedule,” he said.

Under the new version of the Gerak Malaysia app, there will be no QR codes generated and there will be no notifications for approved applications for interstate travel, but the police would be able to identify individuals who have made the application.

"For this movement, we won’t give notifications for approvals, you just apply. And we believe, in this existing system, we can identify who applied, for May 7 to May 10 we believe are genuine cases,” he said, adding that the police will seek to facilitate traffic flows on those four travel dates.

Conditions for travel

Huzir noted that the applications for interstate travel are only for those who had previously went to their hometowns or left their hometowns to visit the Klang Valley before the MCO and are now stuck at their relatives or friends’ houses, and wish to return to their own homes or work.

These interstate travel applications do not apply to university students, whose return home are under separate arrangements.

Huzir noted that the government’s May 1 announcement of a conditional movement order with a majority of businesses allowed to reopen on May 4, saying that this was done as there was a need to balance between public safety and economic development.

"This announcement is for those who are eligible to travel only, don’t take advantage to go back to your hometown to buka puasa, that is not allowed,” he said.

He also listed six things that the public would have to remember when travelling across state borders, including the fact that no food services would be available at the Rest and Service Areas (R&R) to prevent crowds from forming, and that all suraus would be closed with no mass prayer activities allowed anywhere within the R&R compound including carparks, buildings or open spaces, and with only public toilets at R&Rs allowed to operate.

Huzir also said that those travelling may use carparks at R&Rs to rest but may not leave their vehicles except to use the public toilets, while petrol stations along the highway will only operate from 6am to midnight, while no group activities would be allowed during the travel period.

Who can travel and other scenarios

For interstate travel to return home, Huzir confirmed that Malaysians can travel together as a family.

When travelling as a family, all family members above the age of 16 and withtheir own smartphones should download the Gerak Malaysia app and fill in their details for their own benefit and to facilitate contact tracing for Covid-19 cases, Huzir said.

For situations where a family have to go to move from one state to another to pick up their child before moving to their final destination for example, Huzir said the police would give approval for a two-day travel.

Acknowledging that the police’s travel schedule does not include Sabah and Sarawak, Huzir said this is due to separate processes for those two states although applications can still be made via Gerak Malaysia or physically in Sabah and Sarawak.

As an example, those who wish to enter Sarawak from Peninsular Malaysia would have to apply online first, before proceeding to buy flight tickets after receiving approval for interstate travel, and with a requirement to undergo quarantine upon arrival in Sarawak, he said.

The police will take action under existing laws against those who fail to apply for interstate travel.

As of May 3, the number of registered Gerak Malaysia app users are 1,238,510 individuals, with 503,276 indicating their desire to travel across state borders, Huzir said.

How to use the Gerak Malaysia app

Al-Ishsal Ishak, chairman of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), said MCMC collaborated with the police and telco companies for the development of the Gerak Malaysia app.

He said the majority of those who previously downloaded the Gerak Malaysia app are Android users and will be able to download the latest version or version 2.0 from the Play Store, while the remaining 20 per cent are Apple users who will have to wait for the latest version to either be available tonight or tomorrow morning at the Apple Store.

Explaining how to use the app, he said users would have to key in their mobile phone numbers after installing the app, which would result in an sms or text message providing a one time password (OTP) being sent to the phone.

He said so far only around one per cent of the over one million individuals who downloaded the Gerak Malaysia app have experienced problems receiving the OTP sms, advising them to try for a second time and wait for the text message if they encounter such a problem.

Gerak Malaysia app users will have to fill in details such as their names, addresses and their identity card numbers to enable the police and Health Ministry to get in touch if required, and will also have to choose whether to provide their location data.

The Gerak Malaysia app can in the future be used for other applications for movement such as for food, but all options are currently disabled except for the option to apply for interstate travel as the May 7 to May 10 travel schedule is currently the police’s focus , he said.

The new version of the app now allows users to key in their location and their destination, with users also able to amend the address that they have previously keyed in.

Al-Ishsal said the Gerak Malaysia app was important to facilitate police planning and preparations on May 6 for the deployment of police personnel on May 7 to May 10 to facilitate interstate travel, adding that the app is also aimed at ensuring smooth flow of interstate movement.

Even if family members travel together, it would be important for each of them to personally apply if they have the app, to enable the Health Ministry and police to contact them when there is a positive Covid-19 case.

He said big data would be used, such as when two family members apply under the Gerak Malaysia app, adding that they would be identified as travelling together based on the database showing their location of origin.

"We are trying to reduce the manual process of asking how many people are in a car, who is in there, it won’t be perfect, we will try our best,” he said.