Stern actions will be taken against joint management bodies (JMBs) and management corporations (MCs) that fail to comply with the COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOP) to curb the spread of COVID-19 in stratified buildings.

State Housing, Local Government and Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said that no punishment has been issued so far and a majority of the stratified buildings in Penang have adhered with the SOPs gazetted by the Ministry of Health (MOH) since April 6 this year.

He said that to date, over 1,400 high-rise buildings in Penang have conducted SOP compliance checks and recorded an SOP compliance rate of over 99%.

“Meanwhile, those (stratified buildings) that did not comply with the SOP have been given warnings so that they (JMBs and MCs) are aware and make necessary changes.

“I have warned both city councils that if any of these premises still did not comply with SOP, firm actions will be taken,” he told a press conference here today.

Jagdeep said that the SOP in stratified buildings should be highly addressed as the dense population within the small area served as a potential threat against COVID-19 infection.

According to him, there are 1,881 registered stratified buildings in Penang.

“Up until now, prevention is still better than cure and the only thing we, Penangites can do is to comply with the SOP. We do not want one or two individuals to jeopardise the health and security of every other Penangites,” he added.

Source: EdgeProp.my