KUALA LUMPUR (June 7): Beginning from Tuesday, the police will only accept approval letters issued by six ministries and certain agencies in allowing workers to pass through roadblocks.
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Datuk Seri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said the letter acts as a proof to allow the workers to travel to and from their workplace.
"The public is reminded to submit the documents issued by the ministries or agencies that have been listed, when going through the roadblocks and those who fail to do so or found using a fake letter will be subject to stern action under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342)," he said in a statement.
He said the ministries involved are the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) for manufacturing and related service sectors and the Ministry of Transport for the public transport and essential goods sectors.
He said for the agricultural, fishery, livestock, plantation, and commodity sectors, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry (MAFI) will only issue approval letters to smallholders while for those with Companies Commission of Malaysia licences, the letters will be issued by MITI.
"For the Malaysian Rubber Board (LGM) licence holders such as smallholders, estates, nurseries, rubber traders, and rubber manufacturers, they are allowed to use the approval letter from the Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry or LGM, while for manufacturers of rubber products, their letters will be issued by MITI.
"All approval letters issued by agencies under the Home Ministry such as the Immigration Department, National Registration Department, and RELA will be accepted for movement," he said.
He added that approval letters issued by the Communications and Multimedia Ministry will be accepted for the telecommunications, media, post, courier, and broadcast service sectors.
Acryl Sani said for financial institutions, insurance, and stock trading, the approval letters will be issued by Bank Negara Malaysia and Securities Commission Malaysia.
The local authorities will issue the letters for petty traders, hawkers, and food truck operators while the issuance of business licences for strata, solid waste, and sanitation management will be under the purview of MITI.
"The approval documents need to be dated June 1, 2021 and those without any legal documents or possessing expired or outdated (before June 1, 2021) letters will be ordered to turn back.
"The police will also issue travel permits to those who qualify under the regulations for interstate and inter-district travel, including for emergencies, self-employment, and funeral arrangements," he added.
Acryl Sani said for self-employed individuals like plumbers, maintenance workers, and traders, one-off travel permits must be obtained from the police for the duration from June 1 until June 14.
He added that the police will approve one-off applications for two to three days for workers in sectors that are not allowed to operate but need to go to their workplace for specific reasons, including for the preparation of documents, invoices, and salary payments, but they will be required to prepare an approval letter from their employer as proof.
He explained that for operations of legal firms with 20% workforce, letters will be issued by the Prime Minister's Department's Legal Affairs Division through MITI and legal practitioners who need to attend court to represent their clients in new cases (Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code) will need to produce printed documents or the legal firm's letter at roadblocks.