KOTA KINABALU – The revised operating hours (9am-6pm) for eateries and restaurants in Sabah will be a death knell for business owners.
Sabah DAP secretary and Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin said the new directives, which only came at 10pm yesterday, mean that most outlets will lose business during peak hours.
“Allowing operators to only start business at 9am is akin to telling them to give up a big portion of their income derived from the working crowd who normally buy food between 6am and 9am for breakfast.
“Only food hawkers set up inside the markets are allowed to open earlier as market premises can open from 6am to 3pm. But some of these hawkers, in Lido market for example, operate at night.
“So the new restriction is akin to signing their ‘death certificates’ and telling them to starve at home,” he said in a statement today.
Chan said operators in the food and beverages industry were originally instructed to only open from 7am to 7pm, and they hoped to earn an income from breakfast and dinner demands.
“Now even this is dashed. Since dine-ins had already been banned and there will be no gatherings or crowds in restaurants or coffee shops, they should be exempted from the rigid business hours.
“All I ask is for this government and the National Security Council to have mercy on them and scrap the imposition of business hours.”
At about 8.30pm yesterday, Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun announced in his daily statement that all shops allowed to operate during lockdown can only do so from 9am to 5pm, including restaurants and eateries.
However, an amendment to the instruction was made and announced at 10.30pm, changing the operating hours from 9am to 6pm for all businesses, except for markets (6am to 3pm).
The affected industries, especially food operators, have been left confused over the last-minute directives, and many have turned to their representatives for clarification.
DAP’s Elopura assemblyman Calvin Chong Ket Kiun said many food operators have approached him, demanding to know the reason behind the opening hours.
“As the people’s representative, I have the duty to voice their concerns. Right now, food operators want to know why such an instruction was imposed when the eateries cannot take dine-in customers. This is confusing,” he said.
DAP’s Sandakan MP Vivian Wong also said that the constantly changing standard operating procedures (SOPs) have again proven that the government has failed as guardians of the rakyat.
“The government has upgraded from a U-turn government to a ‘roundabout’ government,” she said.
Meanwhile, Warisan’s Karamunting rep George Hiew Vun Zin called the SOPs “ridiculous”.
“Sabah state government acted immaturely in implementing and amending SOPs in a confusing and last-minute manner. All these changes were announced to the public at 10.30pm yesterday and caused a huge amount of panic among Sabah’s communities.
“Now everyone is mocking the state government for needing a “roundabout” for SOPs instead of a U-turn.
“Is the state government’s amendment of SOPs really based on the Covid-19 pandemic’s situations and needs, or are these just simply half-past-six SOPs?
“Food operators selling breakfast usually start prep before dawn (3am or 4am) to be ready to serve customers at 6am. Now, they can only open at 9am.
“How are they going to have the necessary time for prep? Even white-collar workers will not be able to buy breakfast.
“These amended SOPs are ridiculous and need to be looked into more carefully by the state government,” Hiew said in a statement today. – The Vibes, June 7, 2021
