KUCHING: The numbers of media practitioners allowed during the state Legislative Assembly (DUN) starting from Nov 9 until Nov 13 will be limited to reduce the risk of the Covid-19 pandemic.
DUN secretary Pele Peter Tinggom said the media representatives are urged to strictly comply with the standard operating procedures (SOP) that have been set and approved by State Health Department.
“Those who will be going for the DUN Sitting, including media practitioners must follow the SOP as advised by the National Security Council (MKN) and Ministry of Health,” he said when conducting the SOP media briefing for the DUN sitting at DUN Auditorium today.
He said among the SOP that needs to adhere are maintaining physical distancing, checking individual temperatures, wearing a face mask and registering via the MySejahtera app.
“The media are also not allowed to roam around near the DUN building and we hope the media will give their full cooperation,” he said, adding that he hoped the sitting will be a smooth one.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Public Communication Unit (UKAS) chief communications management Samuel Simon said that as announced by Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), any social or official event that involves public gatherings, the maximum number of people allowed is 200 while taking into account the size of the venue.
“We have more than 25 media organisations in Sarawak, and if we were to allow more than one representative from every media fraternity to cover the DUN, the number of people will exceed the permitted capacity.
“Therefore, only one representative from each media organisation is allowed to cover the sitting and for broadcasting agencies, only one reporter and one cameraman will be allowed,” he said.
Samuel added that as all 82 assemblymen were required to undergo the Covid-19 swab test before the sitting, there was no new directive issued as of today whether reporters were required to undergo the Covid-19 swab tests.
On complying with the SOP, UKAS will live stream the DUN Sitting which can be viewed on its official Facebook page.
