Interstate travel not part of simplified SOPs, says Hishammuddin

Permission for interstate travel is not part of the trimmed-down SOPs for the National Recovery Plan (NRP), Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said today.

He said decisions on matters related to interstate travel need to be scrutinised by the Special Committee on Pandemic Management chaired by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“Interstate travel is related to the phases of the NRP. However, recommendations will come from ministers responsible for specific sectors which will then be considered at various levels including the Special Committee on Pandemic Management as well as the Covid-19 Ministerial Quartet Meeting,” he said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

On Sept 14, Hishammuddin announced that the government was in the midst of reducing the SOPs for the NRP from 181 to 10 to make them easier for the public to understand.

Speaking today, he said the second Covid-19 Ministerial Quartet Meeting involving himself, Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz will be held tomorrow.

“The meeting will focus on efforts to simplify the 181 SOPs to 10 as well as the narrative in gearing towards the endemic phase which will begin at the end of October,” he said.

He added that Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Nancy Shukri had been invited to attend tomorrow’s meeting to give a briefing on the status of the Langkawi tourism bubble pilot project and the potential for other travel bubbles.

Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu meanwhile would brief them on possible relaxations of SOPs in the sports sector, he said.