Seven hotels answer call to become quarantine centres

KUCHING: Seven hotels here have responded to the government's plan to turn several hospitality establishments into quarantine facilities for people who enter Sarawak starting this Sunday, says Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) Sarawak chairman Mohd Ibrahim Nordin.

He says the hotels have submitted quotations to the National Security Council (NSC), and they are now dealing directly with the authority.

Mohd Ibrahim says the hotels are in the city centre, but he declines to identify them or their rating. He also says hotels in Sibu and Miri are still considering the move. He adds that most hotels are temporarily closed since the Movement Control Order (MCO) came into effect on March 18.

"In term of facilities, hotels are ever ready (to become quarantine centres). The Ministry of Health will brief and help the hotels on sanitation requirements," he said, declaring MAH Sarawak's support towards turning hotels as quarantine facilities in the state.

He said one of the guidelines was to sanitise rooms daily. The hotels would need to be equipped with individual toilet facilities and hygienically-prepared food - among other things.

However, Mohd Ibrahim admitted that the hotels were now financially 'bleeding' due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

MAH Sarawak has 85 member hotels, representing 11,876 rooms. Sevenof them are ranked Five-Star, 15 with Four-Star rating, 34 with Three-Star rating, while the rest are of other types including TwoStar and 'orchid hotels', he said. There are 596 hotels in Sarawak with a total room inventory of 22,061.

On Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah - who is Sarawak Disaster Management Committee chairman - announced that everyone entering Sarawak, be it by land, air or sea, would be placed under quarantine for 14 days at the quarantine centres, starting April 5. He said this was in line with the federal government's policy that travellers entering Kuala Lumpur would also be quarantined for 14 days. Besides the quarantine centres, Uggah said the committee was also looking for hotels to be turned into quarantine centres at points of entry.

When contacted yesterday, Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Sarawak chairperson Lina Tsen said they too supported the move, describing it as 'last best choice' for the tourism sector.

She said being considered a public area, a hotel could be used as a quarantine area and also a centre to calm down the affected travellers with comfort.

"This is the best last choice compared to using say, non-fully equipped hostels with just basic rooms and beds," she said.

Asked on how would the move affect hotels and tourism industries in general, Tsen said in the short-term people would be staying away from the hotels for a while.

"Hotels may also invest heavily on full disinfection after the MCO is lifted," she said.

However, the good deeds of hotels in assisting the state to combat this pandemic would have a long lasting effect, she said.

"In the long-term, people would remember the great job that hoteliers do during the Covid-19 pandemic or MCO period.

Such generosity and kind deeds of hotels would be remembered - meaning there would be no negative impact on image, reputation and popularity of the hotels, added Tsen.