PEMERKASA: Maybe no need for MCO after this - PM Muhyiddin

PUTRAJAYA: The government will most likely no longer implement the Movement Control Order (MCO) in the country, said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

In a special message today, he said, it was part of the Strategic Program to Empower the People and the Economy (PEMERKASA) worth RM20 billion, with a fiscal injection of RM11 billion.

The move, he added, would implement the COVID-19 contagion control strategy in a more targeted manner based on science and data to reduce the negative impact on the country's economic activities.

At the same time, taking into account the implementation of the National COVID-19 Immunisation Program, the government may no longer need to implement the MCO in a comprehensive way covering the whole country or a state.

"On the other hand, the movement control is only implemented according to locality and focused on the relevant clusters only," he added.

Based on the details provided, it is a key initiative under Focus: Controlling the Contagion of COVID-19, and the Enhanced MCO (EMCO) approach will be implemented in a more targeted manner to control the spread of the epidemic, based on high understanding and collected data.

Through the initiative, the Prime Minister said, the economy would be more open, and assistance would be more targeted, including a transition to more effective structural reforms.

In the meantime, he also touched on the Strict and Transparent Law Enforcement initiative.

“In line with the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021, SOP compliance and stricter and more transparent legal enforcement will continue to be implemented to control the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic," he added.