In response to criticisms on social media, Sanusi said state authorities had limited jurisdiction over actions that could be taken to contain the pandemic.
“How the (state) government works is not like what people think of it,” he said. “Information from all the government agencies and departments (at state level) will be brought up for discussions…It involves all quarters such as the state health department, education department, local authorities, the police and district officers for fine-tuning,” he said in an audio message to reporters today.
Muhammad Sanusi said the state government would then recommend measures to be taken after considering all factors and taking into account the views of experts in their respective fields.
He said the state government could take immediate actions such as closing public parks and limiting the retail sector to avoid people from crowding the stores, which were under the jurisdiction of the local authorities.
Matters which were beyond the state government’s purview would be brought to the State Security Council, which would then be forwarded to the National Security Council for decisions to be made by the federal government, he added.
CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST DATA ON THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram