Up to state governments to turn hotels into quarantine centres

The green light to turn hotels into COVID-19 quarantine centres is up to the respective state governments, said Minister in the Prime Minister (Special Functions) Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof.

He said the move could help the hotel industry raise the occupancies at hotels following the slowdown in tourist arrivals under the Movement Control Order (MCO) due to the pandemic.

''Every state has its COVID-19 Disaster Management Committee and some states are keen to turn hotels into quarantine centres to sustain their operations in the light of the opening of the tourism sector,'' he said.

Mohd Redzuan said this at a media conference following an engagement session between Shared Prosperity Delivery Unit (SEPADU), Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (TERAJU), Bumiputra Education Steering Foundation (Yayasan Peneraju), government agencies, non-government agencies and co-operatives in Perak here, today.

He was asked to comment on the decision of the Melaka state government which reportedly disallowed hotels to be used as quarantine centres for COVID-19 to avoid affecting the tourism sector which is among the major economic contributors in the state.

Mohd Redzuan said any hotel keen to provide their services as quarantine centres, in the effort to ensure the hotel industry continued to operate, should seek permission to do so from their State Disaster Management Committees.

''But, it is okay if there are hotels which do not want to be quarantine centres. In my opinion, they can sustain the operations of their respective hotels with the arrival of tourists,'' he said.

Meanwhile, he said the engagement session, which was being held for the fourth time in Perak today after Sabah, Kedah and Kelantan, was aimed at spreading the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 (WKB 2030) which would be implemented by Teraju, Yayasan Peneraju and SEPADU to help the B40 group.

He said the session was also a preparation for the state government to instill commitment for WKB 2030 in programmes implemented through state government agencies and departments such as the State Secretary's Office. local authorities and district and land offices.

-- BERNAMA