KUCHING: The handling of the Covid-19 pandemic should not be viewed from the perspective of ruling government or opposition but rather as a collective issue and it must not be politicised.
“Covid-19 does not pick if a person is from Barisan Nasional, Perikatan Nasional, Democratic Action Party, or Parti Keadilan Rakyat. Covid-19 targets anyone, so it should not be politicised.
“Whoever becomes an administrator or policymaker, with regard to the Covid-19 pandemic, they have to view it from a comprehensive perspective so that the people can be taken care of,” said Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu vice-president Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
He said this at a press conference here on Tuesday (Aug 24) in response to a question on his views regarding Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob recently inviting the leadership of opposition parties to be part of the National Recovery Council and the Special Committee on Covid-19.
Abdul Karim, who is also Sarawak Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, also said that the opposition had to be responsible and not blame the government if there was an increase in the number of cases.
“I believe that they (the government) has done their best. It is just that we are fighting an unseen enemy.”
Explaining from Sarawak’s perspective, he said that the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) had done its very best as well, such as repeatedly advising the people not to attend funerals or wakes and yet they still did so.
“If infections occur and a cluster arises, then the government is blamed – it is not fair. This applies to us and also to West Malaysia; we cannot just blame the government if the number of cases rises.”
He said the government could be blamed if it did not manage the vaccination programme in an organised manner. However, he pointed out that vaccinations were being rolled out throughout the country.
With regard to the National Recovery Plan (NRP), he said Sarawak agreed with what had been the formulated by the federal government.
At the same time, in view of Sarawak’s vastness, he said the federal government also agreed that decisions made by SDMC could also be applied as long as the core policy was not too far off from the federal government’s decision.
Abdul Karim explained that among the measures or policies which differed between Sarawak and West Malaysia was that the former applied a staggered approach to phases of the NRP.
“For example, the state’s southern region including Kuching is still under Phase 2 while other areas in Sarawak have already entered Phase 3.”
He noted that in West Malaysia, if a state were to move to a different phase of the NRP, it would affect the entire state.
“This staggered approach here in Sarawak is a decision of SDMC, not a decision from the federal government.”
