KOTA KINABALU, May 8 ― Under its gradual reopening phase, the Sabah government has lifted restrictions on the construction, maintenance and forestry sectors beginning today.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal announced that the construction industry consisting of buildings, infrastructure, public facilities and landscaping, among others, may begin work today.
“Maintenance work that may involve maintaining or repairing of public infrastructure, buildings, landscapes, grass cutting, power generation, water supply, cleaning, sewerage, piping and so on will also be allowed.
Its support industries and networks like sand and stone quarries, cement factories, hill cutting, land levelling, hardware shops and clinkers will also be operation. This effectively means any conditional lifting as stated before is retracted and automatically cancelled,” he said in his statement today.
As for the forestry sector, upstream activities like restoration, silviculture, production and transportation of forest products may continue.
Downstream activities like plywood, veneers, laminated wood, furniture industry, moulding, figer joints and other wood-based processing along with its logistically, export and domestic retail chain may also be allowed to reopen.
“However, the state would like to remind these sectors that the permission to open is conditional to the standard operating procedure as outlined by the Health Ministry and all firms are to be declared free of Covid-19 by the state health authorities,” he said.
Sabah has said it would be reopening its economic sector on its own terms after declaring it would not be going along with the federal government’s conditional movement control order.
