Citizens who defy movement control order risk police action - Senior Minister

The authorities will have no choice but to take action against any individual who does not comply with the directives of the Movement Control Order.

The warning was made by Senior Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob who insisted that if the level of compliance did not improve, the police would have to resort to more stringent measures.

Referring to the first day of the implementation of the Movement Control Order on Wednesday, Ismail Sabri who is also Defence Minister said only 60 per cent of Malaysians obeyed the order.

“I do not think that this (decisive action) should be carried out if compliance is improving from time to time. In fact, the PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police) has directed the police chiefs to act by making announcements and reminders from this early stage.

"Yesterday, a total of 504 roadblocks were held nationwide with 6,135 vehicles being inspected and so far the police have only given advice," he said in a press conference on Thursday.

Commenting on this, Ismail Sabri said the Information Department has also made reminders for people to stay home.

“Although the government allows the people to buy necessities, I hope they will try to distance themselves in crowded areas such as markets or when buying food and not to bring along their families and children as advised by the Ministry of Health (MoH).

"I hope the people will obey the order as the purpose of this is not to cause hardship but to protect their health and life, with the spike in the number of cases daily.

"There have been two reported deaths and the MoH has announced that COVID-19 cases will continue to rise, which is why the government has introduced this ban to safeguard the people's safety," he said.