KOTA KINABALU, April 23 — Sabah issued further directives to restrict movement in the state due to Covid-19 today, as more people are arrested, including for illegal hunting.
Sabah secretary Datuk Safar Untong issued new rules today that prohibit unofficial runners for essential businesses, limit private animal clinic and funeral parlour hours as well as guidelines for management corporations.
“The services of an ‘unregistered runner’ is now allowed under the movement control order (MCO). District disaster operations control centres and local authorities are to monitor this,” he said.
Private pet clinics are still allowed to operate daily, but only from 6am to 2pm, except for emergencies.
The Agriculture and Food Industries and Local Government and Housing ministries will be monitoring the clinics to ensure they operate accordingly.
Funeral parlours are also allowed to continue operations from 6am to 6pm daily.
Safar, who heads the Sabah Covid-19 command centre, said management corporations for private condominiums and apartments are allowed to continue operations with a pared-down workforce and ordered to follow safety guidelines if they have not already imposed them.
These include closing down all common areas including halls, gyms, pools, saunas, playgrounds and prayer rooms; sanitising common spaces like elevators lobbies and corridors; and instilling a screening process before entry for all residents, visitors, food deliveries and other essential services.
Meanwhile, authorities here today said that illegal hunting was becoming rampant as Sabah Wildlife Department here arrested five men in two separate locations for hunting deer.
“Two men aged between 30 and 36 years were arrested during a routine patrol in Kampung Keramuak, Tongod yesterday for being in possession of a deer carcass while three men, aged between 29 and 49 were arrested along Jalan Sungai Imam, Tawau today at a roadblock with five deer carcasses that were chopped up,” said Wildlife director Augustine Tuuga.
Both cases are being investigated under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 for being in possession of protected species without a valid license. A conviction could mean a RM30,000 to RM100,000 fine or three years jail.
The department said no hunting permits have been approved for this period and called on the public not to violate the MCO. He said their officers were still on regular patrol to ensure no laws were violated during this time.
