KUALA LUMPUR: The country needs advanced disinfection equipment for sanitisation works to be carried out smoothly and on a bigger scale, said Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
At the moment, he said Malaysia lacks necessary equipment to carry out mass scale disinfection – a matter which will be brought up with the government immediately.
Annuar said the problem is evident when observing equipment used by relevant authorities to perform disinfection exercises.
“It is obvious that we don’t have enough or suitable assets that should be used in cities such as Kuala Lumpur and we need the right technology.
“Generally, I notice that our technology is not up to date and it’s time we look at how other countries handle the situation, especially on the type of equipment they use.
“For example, if we use the same equipment we are using now, it will take us days just to cover a few hundred square metres when we actually need to do disinfecting work regularly,” he said.
Annuar was speaking to the media after disinfection work conducted around Masjid Sri Petaling, which has become Southeast Asia's Covid-19 hotspot after a massive gathering there among tabligh members.
Also present was Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan.
Some 100 Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Alam Flora personnel were on hand with specialised equipment to sanitise the area following a directive from the National Security Council (MKN) and Health Ministry.
According to Annuar, he will raise the issue of the lack of equipment at a security council meeting on the Federal Territories today.
He said the Housing and Local Government Ministry has requested a RM20 million allocation for disinfection works nationwide.
“But of course, a bulk of it will be used for the most challenging territory, which is the Federal Territory.
“Sri Petaling is our pilot test to determine the effectiveness of our equipment and methods, and also, if we have sufficient assets and manpower,” he said.
He added that the exercise will help develop a standard operating procedure (SOP) in dealing with such crises in the future.
“There are many things the local authorities can learn from this crisis and we should not take it lightly,” he added.
This is the first such exercise by DBKL and its agencies at one of the two Covid-19 ‘red zones’ in the federal capital.
The red zones cover the districts of Lembah Pantai and Titiwangsa, consisting of the parliamentary constituencies of Lembah Pantai, Seputeh, Bukit Bintang, Kepong, Titiwangsa, Setiawangsa and Wangsa Maju.
In a statement later, Annuar commented on the RM250 billion Prihatin Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package or PRIHATIN, saying that the initiative is timely in ensuring the stability of the country’s economy.
“This is also to ensure that the people will always have money in their pockets.
“This intervention is needed and the government doesn’t have a choice but to come up with a massive stimulus package,” he said.