The Malaysian Ministry of Plantation Industry and Commodities has outlined five operations that will continue as usual during the implementation of the order to control community activities.

In a statement today, the ministry said the five operations were

  1. harvesting oil palm by plantation companies and smallholders,
  2. processing fresh fruit bunches in palm oil mills,
  3. processing crude palm oil (CPO) in refineries.

For the supply of local cooking oil, (4) rubber tapping activities to supply raw materials to the medical equipment industry such as gloves and catheters, and (5) the timber industry sector to fulfil ongoing contracts.

The ministry decided with the support of the National Security Council and after the ministry considered various views that appeared at the cabinet meeting this morning.

All parties involved in the various activities mentioned above must ensure that all ways to prevent and control the COVID-19 outbreak are followed including minimizing the number and movement of employees through social distancing and each employee must immediately return to their place of residence after work.

All parties were also reminded to maintain hygiene such as washing hands with soap and using hand sanitizers, the statement said. ***

theedgemarkets.com, 19/03/2020