KOTA BARU – Traders at Pasar Peringat here expressed their frustration when the number of customers dropped drastically as the location was declared a conditional movement control order (CMCO) area under the Halban cluster.
Trader representative, Siti Fazilah Harun, 30, said the CMCO announcement had affected more than 30 traders in the market.
“We have been seeing fewer customers since last March, which caused our income to suffer more than three times that of last year after customers were worried about coming here to buy items such as cakes, vegetables, fruits, groceries. and clothing.
“Since last March, average sales have only been at 10% to 20% compared to about 90% in the past,” she said when met at the market today.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had announced the implementation of CMCO in the Peringat and Kota sub-districts in Kota Baru, Kelantan until January 17 when the residents of Pondok Daril Naim, Melor here were confirmed Covid-19 positive.
Siti, who took over the business from her grandmother for more than 10 years, is also worried about servicing her loan from the National Entrepreneur Group Economic Fund and Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia.
“Generally, traders in this market take loans as revolving capital. The drop in customers is affecting our income and our ability to pay off the loans.
“We hope there will be a reprieve in the repayment of loans by traders here, and also request that the local authority, the Ketereh District Council-Islamic Municipality, extends our business hours until 2pm, compared with 5pm previously,” she said.
Fish cracker trader Nik Zaidi Abdullah, 38, said his stall is still open every day, even though he only earns RM50 a day or has no income at all, compared with RM300 to RM500 a day before the CMCO.
“We are continuing business as this is the only source of income for generations with stall rentals of RM12 to RM44 per month depending on the position of the stalls in the market.
“We hope the Covid-19 chain will be broken, that customers here will comply with the standard operating procedures, and that the relevant parties will look into the plight of traders,” he said. – Bernama, January 5, 2020
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