He said the decision was reached after receiving many complaints about manufacturing companies, such as misuse of government permission letters by non-essential services, and of factories operating with more than 60% of their workforce.
“The government will take stern action against factories that violate SOPs. These factories will be subject to compound fines and will be ordered to shut down immediately,” he said in a statement today.
In a separate statement, the works ministry said that so far 150 construction sites were ordered to close for failure to comply with SOPs since the total lockdown began on June 1.
This comprises 34% of the 446 sites inspected by the Construction Industry Development Board that were found to be operating during the period.
“The ministry takes seriously the high percentage of non-compliance with SOPs at construction sites because it is a matter of great concern and will affect the goals of the full movement control order to curb the spread of Covid-19.”
Of the sites closed, 45 were in Sarawak, with the others located in Selangor (24), Melaka (16), Penang (10), Terengganu (10), Sabah (nine), Johor (seven), Kuala Lumpur (six), Pahang (six), Perak (five), Kedah (four), Negeri Sembilan (four), Perlis (three) and Kelantan (one)
EMCO at Melaka prison and localities in three states
Ismail also announced that several localities in Sarawak, Sabah, Melaka, and Perak were placed under an enhanced movement control order from June 23 to July 6 following a spike in Covid-19 cases there.
In Sarawak, the two localities are in Mukah, namely Rumah Panjang Gabriel Bujang anak Ikau in Sungai Lepah, Tanjung Manis and Balingian Power Generation staff quarters, Jalan Sibu-Mukah.
In Sabah, two localities are in Tawau, namely Blok 11, Kampung Titingan and Batu 7, Jalan Tinangat.
Other areas are Kampung Ejuk, Kota Belud, where eight of the 16 tests returned positive, and Kampung Warisan in Kota Kinabalu, where 13 positive cases were recorded.
In Melaka, the Sungai Udang prison (with the exception of the prison quarters) in Melaka Tengah will be placed under EMCO after 157 of the 262 tests returned positive.
In Perak, Cahaya Muda palm oil factory in Batang Padang will be placed under EMCO after 97 positive cases were recorded.
Ismail said the EMCO in Kampung Bolong Baru and Kampung Simpangan in Tuaran, Sabah and Felda Tembangau 1 and 3 in Bera, Pahang will end today.
Additionally, the EMCO in Felda Trolak Utara in Sungkai, Perak, Politeknik Sultan Azlan Shah in Muallim, Perak, FGV farm Kalabakan Selatan in Kalabakan, Sabah, Kampung Narandang in Kudat, Sabah and three localities in Tawau, Sabah, namely Taman Apas Permai, Bandar Sri Indah, and Taman Megah Jaya will end tomorrow.
Ismail also said police arrested 825 people for breaching MCO rules yesterday. Of that number, 810 were fined while 15 were remanded.
Among the offences were not maintaining physical distancing (217), inter-district/state travel (151), failure to wear a face mask (137), failure to register personal details prior to entering premises (113), failure to follow movement control rules (94), exceeding the car passenger limit (45) and others (42).
The authorities also detained 17 undocumented migrants and seized five vehicles as part of the ongoing Op Benteng campaign yesterday.