KUALA LUMPUR: Only 366 from the total 1,786 applications in the communication sector were given approval as of yesterday (June 3) to operate throughout the lockdown period which came into force on Tuesday.
From the 366, a total 132 applications given the green light to operate throughout the lockdown period involved telecommunication services companies followed by 126 in postal and courier services.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), which is the verification agency under the Covid-19 Intelligent Management System (CIMS), said the remaining applications or 108 approved to operate during the lockdown period are from the broadcasting industry.
The MCMC in a statement today said 1,420 applications were rejected due to various reasons.
“Among the reasons why their applications were rejected are that their services are not under the communication sector.
“Other reasons are because the applicants are not license holders nor carry out essential services although they fall under the communication sector and are not listed as the vendor, distributor or agent that were validated by the license holder,” read the statement.
The MCMC appealed to all quarters to ascertain the status of their company if they are categorised under the essential services in the communication sector.
This, said the commission, was to ensure a smooth process in the verification of the companies and to ensure those that really qualify are given the approval to operate immediately.
“For those who do not possess licenses issued by the MCMC, the companies are required to get the verification from the license holder before submitting their applications (to operate during the lockdown period) with the CIMS,” said MCMC.
The commission said the approval process through CIMS for sectors under the MCMC are carried out transparently and thoroughly with the aim of ensuring continuity of essential services to the people as well as to avoid abuse of permission letters.
CIMS is a one-stop centre administered by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) for the issuance of approval letter for companies and services to operate and move around throughout the implementation of the Movement Control Order.