KUCHING: Kuching South City Council (MBKS) has toned down its 33rd Kuching City Day this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, said Mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng.
In his message in conjunction with the annual City Day on Sunday (Aug 1), Wee said the decision to tone down the celebration was a rather difficult one to make amongst many other hard and difficult decisions made by the council throughout the year.
However, he felt that the council had taken the right approach by not celebrating Kuching City Day in excess and by putting its focus on where it mattered, namely, its efforts to battle the pandemic outbreak.
“There are a lot of hard and difficult decisions for us to make, such as the closing down of premises suspected of being the location of Covid-19 cluster including the Stutong Market, which is the heart and soul of many Kuching residents, among others.
“These tough decisions were made by careful consideration and weighing of all pros and cons. I assure you, that no decisions were made lightly when it comes to balancing the interest of our residents, and the need to swiftly curtail Covid-19’s virality,” he explained.
With everyone at MBKS working harder than before, Wee was optimistic that the city’s well-being, development and security would be sufficiently addressed as the council focused more focused on battling the pandemic.
He added that MBKS had taken greater precautions than in the past when awarding company licences.
“In business and commercial licence applications, we have included new requirements as mandatory criteria and the details will be released as soon as they are available,” he said.
The council, he added, was moving toward digitalisation by utilising technologies such as the Qmunity App.
“I am sure everyone is familiar with the Qmunity App and its technology, such as the enforcement bodycam and face recognition check-in. We will be deploying the auto-tracking system in MBKS soon to optimise the application processes,” he revealed.
