Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today urged enforcement agencies to adopt a more prudent approach in ensuring compliance with COVID-19 prevention standard operating procedures (SOP).

He said firmness was important to ensure the rules were adhered to but there should be discretion and humanity in actions taken within the scope of the law so that efforts to educate the community would be more acceptable.

Muhyiddin said he understood and sympathised with the difficulties of the people in finding a source of income to ensure their survival in a pandemic situation, including of those who tried to run small businesses like selling burgers, snacks, drinks or agricultural produce.

"These people are not owners of large companies or business establishments but only licence holders to run their own businesses on a small scale.

"So even if we want to take action for violating the SOP and the rules, we should be considerate. Impose a compound but at a reasonable rate," he said when launching the COVID-19 Green Zone Community Competition, which is aimed at empowering and galvanising urban and rural communities in the fight against COVID-19, here today.


It was reported that several traders in Kelantan, including a burger seller, were fined RM50,000 after allegedly operating beyond permitted hours of the Movement Control Order (MCO) there.

Muhyiddin said apart from continuous monitoring and control by enforcement agencies, the community also had an important role to play in ensuring that the public complied with the SOP, which have been often repeated, like wearing face masks, maintaining physical distancing and avoiding crowded and cramped places.

"There are new variants of this virus that are spreading faster and having a worse effect in terms of a more drastic increase in cases in some countries. We definitely want to prevent the spread of these new variants in our country," he said.

Muhyiddin said the government was taking strict steps to curb the spread of COVID-19 with national border controls being tightened by banning visitors from countries affected by the new COVID-19 variants, besides taking stern action against individuals violating mandatory quarantine directives.

"Strict action by the government alone is not enough. What is more important is that the people have a high awareness to comply with all rules and SOP set by the government in order to protect the public from the dangers of this virus," he said.

Muhyiddin underscored that community leaders must also understand and be sensitive to all the SOP that have been set, depending on the movement control order that is in force in their respective areas.

"Take note of the programmes or events that will be held by the residents in your village or housing estate  and make sure that the organisation of the programme or event strictly complies with the SOP set," he said.

Also present at today's ceremony were Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Special Functions) Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof, Rural Development Minister Datuk Dr Abd Latiff Ahmad, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali and National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) director-general Datuk Dr Aminuddin Hassim.

-- BERNAMA