KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 — Religious Affairs Minister Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri said today that his ministry has been assisting migrant workers since the start of the nationwide Movement Control Order (MCO).
Zulkifli, who is also the Federal Territories Mufti, said agencies under his ministry in the Prime Minister’s Department have been giving foreign workers food and dry goods, besides visiting them in Kongsi Cyberjaya 10 yesterday.
Senior Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said yesterday that the government has informed foreign missions to take care of their citizens in the Selangor Mansion and Malayan Mansion flats in Masjid India here that were put under an Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) since April 7.
He said the 6,000 residents — comprising mostly foreign nationals — in those areas must pay for their own food ordered through the operations centre. The EMCO, which is in effect a total lockdown, prohibits people from exiting and entering the area until all residents have been screened for Covid-19.
The decision has earned both criticism and praise. Some Malaysians questioned how the poor can afford to buy food and necessities under lockdown, while others said taxpayer ringgit shouldn’t be used to help illegal immigrants.
The Star reported today the Pakistan and Indian High Commissions as saying that they were working with the Malaysian government on the lockdown of the Selangor Mansion and Malayan Mansion flats.
The nationwide MCO was imposed on March 18 and is scheduled to end next Tuesday. The government announced it would decide tomorrow if the MCO should be extended amid the Covid-19 epidemic that has infected over 4,100 people in Malaysia and killed 65.
