BUTTERWORTH: Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has dismissed talk that the National Recovery Council (NRC) and the quartet ministers led by him do not see eye to eye, thus leading to confusion on the issue of the reopening of borders.

       The Senior Minister (Defence) said they were all, in fact, on the same page regarding the issue.

       “Those in the NRC committee are the Health Minister, Defence Minister, Finance Minister and also quartet ministers. To say that we don’t communicate well is not true at all,” he told a press conference at the Butterworth Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base here yesterday.

       Hishammuddin, who heads the country’s Covid-19 response efforts, was responding to several MPs and some in the business sector who alleged that there was no uniformity on the issue by the government.

       He explained that the issue of border reopening was not easy as it involved various ministries and needed to be discussed in the Cabinet under the Covid-19 Special Committee chaired by the Prime Minister.

       He said what was announced by NRC chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin earlier was actually a recommendation to fully open the country’s borders and it was welcomed by the quartet ministers.

       He said the issue was also discussed during the Quartet Ministers’ Meeting, but a decision could not be made at either the quartet ministers’ level or the NRC’s level as they did not have the mandate to do so.

       “The matter will be brought to the Cabinet or Covid-19 Special Committee chaired by the Prime Minister for a decision,” he added.

       On Tuesday, Muhyiddin, in a statement, announced that Malaysia’s borders were set to fully reopen on March 1.

       He had said it was recommended by the NRC that the country’s borders be fully opened in due time to support the nation’s recovery.

       However, he noted that those entering the country would have to undergo Covid-19 testing before and right after arriving in the country as recommended by the Health Ministry.

       He had added that the opening of the nation’s borders had to be done accordingly and based on current risk assessment.

       Hishammuddin responded by saying that the recommendation to fully open the country’s borders by that date needed to be studied by the relevant ministries and departments.

       The borders had been partially closed since early 2020 following the Covid-19 outbreak to check the spread of the virus.

       Earlier yesterday, Hishammuddin attended an unveiling of the Leonardo AW-139 helicopters programme at the airbase.

       During the programme, he was briefed by RMAF officers about the helicopters which would replace the Sikorsky S-61A-4 Nuri helicopters that have been used by the air force for more than 50 years.

       Because of numerous incidents and maintenance issues, these helicopters were withdrawn from use in January 2020.

       The Leonardo AW-139 helicopters are part of an interim solution and were acquired under a chartered concept based on a “Government Operated, Company Owned and Maintained” system.