KUALA LUMPUR – Food and beverage business operators are pleading with the government to allow longer operating hours following the extension of the full lockdown yesterday.
Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners’ Association (Presma) president Datuk Jawahar Ali Taib Khan said the current daily operating hours from 8am until 8pm were insufficient to sustain the businesses and limited customers’ access to food.
He suggested that operating hours be expanded to between 6am and 10pm daily, which he said was a “reasonable” amount of time, taking into account the time it takes to prepare for daily operations and to clean up during closing time.
“There are many customers from essential sectors who arrive as early as 7am to buy breakfast but can’t because we are not allowed to open,” Jawahar told The Vibes.
“So the government now can at least help allow slightly longer hours, for us and for the workers.”
Yesterday, the National Security Council decided to extend the third movement control order (MCO 3.0), originally slated to end on June 14, to June 28.
Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the decision was made after taking into account the still high daily Covid-19 cases, which have yet to fall below the 5,000 mark.
However, the present standard operating procedures governing industrial, commercial, and manufacturing activities remain, he said.
The association currently has 12,500 registered members nationwide, of which at least 600 are in Kuala Lumpur. Jawahar said many of them risk closures and worker layoffs during the lockdown.
He said although restaurant operators were instructed to close by 8pm, many of them would begin winding down for the day as early as 6pm, preventing those coming home from work from packing food for dinner.
“We understand that with the high number of (Covid-19) cases, the government has no choice but to enforce a lockdown.
“But please let us open for a while longer so that businesses can run more smoothly and customers can buy food.” – The Vibes, June 12, 2021
