Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah
KUCHING (March 10): The government’s decision to reopen Malaysia’s borders to foreign travellers is a good move as the country begins its transition to the Covid-19 endemic phase, says Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
“This is a good move for our country which follows the footsteps of others because they cannot economically afford or are no longer willing to keep their borders closed.
“Australia opened its borders on Feb 12 and other countries which have opened their borders include Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines as well,” he said when contacted.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Tuesday said the borders of the country will be reopened on April 1 in line with the plan on entering the Transition to Endemic Phase as well as announcements to revive the overall national economy especially the tourism industry which had been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Abdul Karim said it is time to accept the fact that Covid-19 is here to stay.
“With good precautionary measures, our fight against the surge of Covid-19 infections will soon be over,” he said.
He pointed out that the Sarawak government is among the few which have already worked out its Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) launched by Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg last year.
“The PCDS is part of the state’s continuous efforts to keep Sarawak’s development agenda on track.
“We need it because our people’s livelihoods are at stake. Together we must work hard to return everyone’s lives to normalcy,” he said.
On the proposed Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) between Sarawak and countries such as Singapore and Indonesia, Abdul Karim said the ministry was still working on this.
“Sarawak has the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) who has the final say on the standard operating procedures,” he added.
from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3MDqvYM
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