PETER ANTHONY PAYS MCO COMPOUNDS OF EIGHT TENOM VILLAGERS

Peter and some of the affected villagers.

2 Feb 2021

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KOTA KINABALU: Melalap State Assemblyman Datuk Peter Anthony helped fork out a total of RM8,000 for eight villagers in Tenom who were each compounded RM1,000 for violating the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of the Movement Control Order (MCO).

In his Facebook posting, Peter said: "For the value of humanity, I felt called to help them pay the compound because I understand the situation and condition of the villagers who live far from the town area."

"Some of them do not even have internet access or televisions to follow current developments, especially relating to the SOP of the MCO implementation.

"I advised them to always comply with the SOP in the future. Hopefully, this little help could ease the burden of the villagers involved," he said.

It was learned that the villagers involved were senior citizens and people with disabilities (OKU) who had to go to Tenom Town to buy food and medical supplies.

"Whatever it is, thank God that it has all settled and I managed to pack some food for them before they left.

"Hopefully this incident could teach us all to always abide by the SOP and care for one another. Let us flatten the curve of Covid-19 transmissions so that we could go back to how our lives used to be," he said.

Meanwhile, Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali also expressed sympathy towards the villagers and advised the Sabahans to continue complying with the SOP.

He said, village communities play a vital role in providing explanation or information on the urgency of SOP compliance.

"This is important so that the purpose of SOP compliance can be understood, of which is to curb the spread of Covid-19 and avoid from being compounded," he said at a press conference at Kepayan Police Headquarters here, recently.

Yesterday, a video of eight villagers, including a chartered driver, who were fined RM1,000 each for violating the SOP by carrying more passengers than allowed, which is only 50 per cent of the public vehicle's capacity, went viral.

In the video, they said they were saddened by the RM1,000 fine issued by the enforcement authorities as they were only out to buy food and medical supplies.