PUTRAJAYA: The standard operating procedure (SOP) for religious group activities at places of worship will be tabled at the Special Ministerial Committee to coordinate the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) by next Tuesday.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the SOP would be tabled by National Unity Minister Datuk Halimah Mohamed Sadique.
He said after the government introduced the SOP to lift curbs on Muslims praying at the mosque, other religious groups also requested that they be given similar flexibility to carry out their activities according to SOPs set by the authorities.
“The National Unity Minister has been directed to look into the matter and to discuss with the leaders of the five other biggest religions in the country namely, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism.
“I understand that the proposal will be tabled at the special ministerial meeting tomorrow or latest on Tuesday, and following that we will make a decision,” he told the daily press conference on the Conditional MCO (CMCO) here today.
Meanwhile, he said, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs), Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri would give a full report on how things went on the first day after the government’s decision to lift the curbs on performing Friday prayers at mosques and selected surau.
“If there is non-compliance, we may have to station some police or any uniformed personnel there to ensure compliance,” he added.
On media reports that some had prayed in congregation in the National Mosque compounds, he hoped everyone had adhered to the SOP.
He said the SOP for Friday prayers had been decided by the Special Muzakarah Committee of the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs.
“The SOP cannot be changed. If it says only 30 worshippers are allowed in the mosque, 60 others cannot be praying outside the mosque or so forth,” he stressed.
Ismail Sabri did not rule out the possibility that should there be violations of the SOP in several areas, the permit would be withdrawn.
“In isolated cases, the mosque in question will be advised to comply with the SOP but we will not withdraw the permits from others that have been adhering to the SOP,” he said.
Meanwhile, it was announced that legal action may be taken against individuals who persist in exposing high-risk groups like children and senior citizens to possible Covid-19 infection by bringing them to public places.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the authorities might take action under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342) if the public continued to ignore their advice.
“The Health Ministry (MOH) is using the approach of giving advice, asking people not to bring high-risk groups to public places, including malls and hospitals, except for appointments.
“Now we just advise but we may resort to taking action under Act 342, that is issuing summons or court action,” he told the daily news conference on Covid-19 here.
He was asked whether MOH would consider including the prohibition on taking high-risk groups to public places in the SOP for CMCO. – May 15, 2020, Bernama
