KUANTAN, April 4 — All 13 telecommunications companies in the country are working to improve internet access in housing areas experiencing slow service during the Movement Control Order period, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.
He said the problem of slow internet service in these housing areas was due to a sudden surge in usage as most people had to stay at home and work from home.
“Generally, internet access involves three components — housing areas, offices and roads. They (telecommunications firms) are working tirelessly to ensure internet access in housing areas is not affected.
“They are trying to ensure there is no crash in terms of access and to redeploy the three components for better weightage in housing areas so that internet access can be maintained,” he said.
Saifuddin told reporters this after inspecting the Covid-19 relief goods storage hub for the Indera Mahkota parliamentary constituency here today. Also present was Beserah state assemblyman Andansura Rabu.
In another development, Saifuddin said that so far the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had opened 48 investigation papers related to Covid-19, 46 of which were linked to fake news and the other two involving offensive elements.
Most of the cases were recorded on Facebook with 37, followed by Twitter (seven), WhatsApp (three) and website (one).
“We also have 24 cases under active investigation at the monitoring, suspect identification and forensic analysis stage. Apart from that, MCMC has charged eight people in court while five others have been issued warning notices.
“This is not a good figure as we are in the midst of tackling the Covid-19 issue. Every day, our ministry’s swift response team also has to deny five or six cases of fake news going viral on social media,” he said.
Saifuddin said he had also informed the Finance Ministry to classify media personnel under the Communications and Multimedia Ministry as front-liners because they too “go down to the ground and are exposed to risks” just like that experienced by health and security personnel carrying out their duties.
Commenting on the Covid-19 aid for the Indera Makhota parliamentary constituency, Saifuddin, who is the MP, said the goods had been distributed since the MCO was implemented, with university students and front-liners getting a pack of food each.
“A total of 4,000 recipients received kitchen utensils while 2,000 others received baby items, including milk, and personal necessities like sanitary pads as well as disposable adult diapers,” he said.
Saifuddin said 1,000 face masks as well as disinfectants and 500 units of face shields were donated to front-liners while women volunteers in Beserah made personal protective equipment (PPE) for health personnel. — Bernama
