KOTA KINABALU: To wait until 70 percent of the population are vaccinated before lifting the inter-district travel ban in Sabah will be catastrophic as it will kill the tourism industry.
Japiril Suhaimin Chairman of Kundasang Tourism and Cultural Association (KTCA) said the inter-district travel ban should not be imposed at all during the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) much less prolong it until 70 percent of the people are vaccinated.
“I do not agree 70% of Malaysia’s population have to be vaccinated before inter- districts and inter-state travel is allowed. At least allow inter-district travel to recovering state / district (yellow zone and green zone) to allow local tourism industry to operate again.”
“If we take into account 70% of the population in Sabah out of the 3.54 million population, 2.47 million people need to be vaccinated first before inter-district travel is allowed. The first phase of the vaccine in Sabah is only 100,000 doses in 6 phases, to cover 2.47 million people will take years to complete. ”
“To allow the tourism industry to stand still for so long will kill it. As it is the MCO and RMCO since last year have already cause the industry to suffer. To ban inter-district travel especially in Sabah is detrimental to the industry. It must be remembered that the tourism industry covers a very large area and involve thousands of people. This include all manners of accommodations, vehicles, eateries, employees of these establishments and of course the operators themselves. The people who work in sightseeing and tours tour guides, coordinators etc; they are all effected. Handicrafts and traditional items sellers in homestays and farmstays, they also lost their income. The results can be disastrous,” he elaborated.
He stressed that there was no point in allowing eateries to open if there is no inter-district movement tourism spots, places of interest are interconnected through the districts.
“Adherence and enforcement on strict SOP should be empathised and not inter-district and interstate travel ban. I do agree however if they ban travels in and out of the country. This should be done to ensure against variants of the virus coming into the country.”
Kohadie Watiman Deputy President of Malaysia Kampungstay and Homestay Association (MKHA) stressed that lifting ban after 70 percent of the people are vaccinated will shut down the industry and lead to many unemployment and sufferings among the people involved.
“We are very disappointed with the announcement and we hope that the relevant authorities will reconsider and lift this ban as soon as possible. If they still insist, they will see a lot of businesses in this sector close down, a lot of unemployment and economic problem among us. I am sure those with steady income such as Ministers will not feel the impact, but they should have some compassion with people like us who have put our effort almost all our life into our ventures, only to see it collapse,” he shared.
Martin Kong, General Manager of Sabah Tea Resort, Ranau agreed saying that the Government should look into creating jobs instead of destroying tens of thousands of jobs through its policy and inconsistent applications of SOP on Covid-19.
He said travel restrictions should be enforced between targeted areas and not across all districts throughout the State.
He had initially called for strict health SOPs instead as when adhered to it can control chances of infection. SOP should be enforced strictly and consistently with no double standards, no regular changes, and with clarity.
Meanwhile, Abar Gumpai spokesperson of Taburan Beach Eco Tourism, Kota Belud said the Government should consider the effect of the ban especially on rural tourism players like him, who has been impacted badly during the MCO and RMCO since last year.
“We have zero income since last year. As such the Government should allow domestic tourism so that we can continue our endeavours to promote our tourism product again,” he said adding that if indeed the government insisted on carrying out this ban, all tourism players, from five star hotels to village participants should be accorded monetary compensation according to their worth.
He agreed that strict adherence to SOP and enforcement could tackle the problem considerably.
On Friday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had stated that the travel ban between states and districts may go on until at least 70% of the population have been vaccinated for Covid-19.-BNN
