Sim Tze Tzin, MP for Bayan Baru, said data that he compiled from January to March shows the virus had been persistent in Mukim 12 and Mukim 13, in the south-east of Penang island. His constituency contains large parts of the areas, including the factory zones.

“After three months, despite the movement control order, the conditional MCO and all the various SOPs (standard operating procedures), the cases are still occurring.

“The people of Bayan Baru have told me on many occasions that they are very sceptical and disappointed. They have followed all sorts of SOPs, yet there are still many cases. Their businesses and jobs are affected and they are living in fear,” he said in a Facebook post.

Sim noted that the factories in the two sub-districts are an “important part of the global supply chain” and failure to act would have an impact on the economy. (The electrical and electronics industries in Penang are reported to contribute about RM380 billion towards Malaysia’s total export value.)

He said MKN had failed to use the data effectively in rolling out mitigation strategies. He said Penang had the sixth highest transmission rate in the country, with an R0 of 0.98 as of Friday. He questioned what strategies had been implemented to lower the infection rate.

He criticised Miti for their delay in launching the Safe@Work programme even though it had been known from last year that factories were hotbeds for transmission.

Sim also questioned the lack of enforcement against factories that failed to follow Covid-19 rules or repeatedly see outbreaks. “They failed to manage their factories properly to the detriment of the public. They must be held accountable. Stern action should be taken against the culprits,” he said.

He said no manufacturing plant had yet to be warned to close for these infractions.