KUALA LUMPUR – A restaurant that also has a pub licence in Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC) is apparently not permitted to operate during the total lockdown.
Champ’s bistro proprietor Richard Nah said his application to the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) on June 1 was rejected.
Champ’s Express Heritage Sdn Bhd, the company under which the restaurant is registered, possesses both a restaurant and pub licence.
“Miti classified us as a pub and rejected our application,” Nah told The Vibes today.
He said this decision is especially confusing considering his other outlet, Champ’s Express TTDI, was given approval within 24 hours.
Champ’s Express TTDI is registered under a separate company, Champ’s Outlets Sdn Bhd, which owns only a restaurant license.
“I’m very upset because Champ’s BSC has both pub and restaurant licences,” said Nah.
“In fact, our main business is food. At least allow the restaurant to operate and come up with a standard operating procedure (SOPs) prohibiting the sale of liquor.
“You can’t just say we cannot operate at all because we also own a pub license.”
Nah said his other company, Richard Fruit Sdn Bhd (a fruit importer, exporter and distributor), is also awaiting approval to operate after Miti found that the firm had registered under the “wrong sector”.
“What ‘wrong sector’? Just like during the second movement control order (MCO), we applied under the economic sector. It was approved then, why not now?”
He said he has submitted appeals for both Champ’s BSC and Richard Fruit to be permitted to operate during the current lockdown, but has yet to receive any response.
For each day that the two companies are not allowed to open, it will cost Nah some RM150,000, most of which is due to losses from his fruit business, which supplies produce to Jaya Grocer, Sogo and wholesalers.
“My question to those in Miti is how they evaluate whether a company can operate during this MCO. I can only hope that the government stops with the flip-flopping of SOPs.
“They keep changing them, and everyone is confused.
“They must evaluate their own system and properly draw up SOPs first, before anything else. There appears to be so many errors and shortcomings.” – The Vibes, June 4, 2021
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