COVID-19: Police roadblock at UNHCR-sanctioned settlement in Labuan

By Jailani Hasan

LABUAN, Dec 30 -- Police have mounted a roadblock at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)-sanctioned settlement of Kiamsam, here, after the Labuan health authority declared the settlement as a COVID-19 red zone.

The 10-day roadblock which started Tuesday (Dec 29) is to control the inflow and outflow of people and vehicles, and according to the National Security Council (NSC) Labuan, it was estimated that there were about 3,200 refugees and residents in the settlement.

Acting Labuan police chief, DSP Mohd Ibrahim Ghani said the roadblock was also to help the Labuan health personnel carry out COVID-19 active case detection and monitoring smoothly.

"The roadblock is not meant to stop people from going in and out of the settlement but rather to ensure those (refugees and residents) undergoing quarantine stay quarantined.

"We have been told by the health authority that there are individuals in the settlement issued with the quarantine order and asked to wear the pink wristband, therefore, there is a need to mount the roadblock," he told Bernama, here, today.

Areas downtown like the shoplot buildings near Jalan Bunga Kemuning and Jalan Bunga Mayang were also declared as red zones as several COVID-19 patients were found to be tenants in the area.

Healthcare personnel are facing a major challenge in carrying out screening and contact tracing in these two UNHCR-sanctioned settlements.

Labuan Health Department director, Dr Ismuni Bohari said the occupants of the densely-populated Kg Muslim and Kiamsam water squatter settlements, home to Filipino refugees and other immigrants, locked themselves up in their house or fled when they saw the healthcare personnel.

“We are not welcomed. People there avoid us and flee ... some probably flee by boat, some hide by holding on to the stilts under their house while others run into the woods. This is the situation impeding our efforts to trace unrecorded cases,” he said.

As of today, Labuan has recorded 1,638 cases of COVID-19 with nine deaths and five active clusters of J Bandar with 35 cases, Hujung Pasir (56), Sky Coklat (50), Saguking (413) and Titian at the UNHCR-sanctioned settlement of Kg Muslim with 81 cases.

-- BERNAMA