Penang police have arrested 31 people for not adhering to the movement control order (MCO) since March 18.
Penang Police Chief Comm Datuk Sahabudin Abd Manan said out of the 31, five were charged on March 25 and 26.
The five were charged under Section 186 of the Penal Code for voluntarily obstruction of a public servant of his public functions.
The charges were read with Section 7(1) Prevention of control of infectious diseases (Measures within the infected local areas) Regulations 2020.
“At the start of the MCO, we used the soft approach by advising and appealing to the people to observe the stay-at-home order.
“Now, we will resort to more drastic action. We will arrest those who violate the MCO without valid reasons.
“We are recording about 94 percent compliance of the MCO,” he told newsmen at the state police contingent headquarters today.
Police have also increased roadblocks from 24 when the MCO first started on March 18 to 34 in recent days.
Meanwhile, Sahabudin said police also received 41 reports on face mask sale scams since the start of the year, involving losses to the tune of RM380,672.
He said of the 41 police reports, one has been charged in court.
Earlier, Sahabudin said they have decided to open a special lane on roads to cater to workers commuting to jobs in essential services businesses, as the state has faced extraordinary traffic jams in recent days.
He said only one lane is opened at roadblocks now, causing traffic jams.
“As such, we have decided to open a special lane for those in essential services businesses, as well as those with company passes, cards or letters.
“For example, healthcare workers with passes and company cards can use the special lanes to avoid jams,” he added.
Sahabudin also said Penang has recorded a drop in crimes during the MCO period.
He said they used to record about 14 crime cases on average daily.
“Now, there are days with as little as three cases,” he noted.