PETALING JAYA: Members of the retail sector have made an “urgent and desperate” plea to the government for all malls and retail outlets to reopen by July 15 or when the 10% Covid-19 vaccination target is achieved.
They said that as the shopping mall and retail industry contributed significantly to the economy, all efforts had to be taken to preserve the performance of the sector.
Malaysian Shopping Malls Association president Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned against lockdowns, as they result in extreme economic damage, and that a flexible approach to managing the pandemic must be undertaken.
Tightened security: An auxiliary police officer checking people’s MySejahtera app before allowing them to enter Sunway Pyramid mall in Bandar Sunway.
KUALA LUMPUR: Despite MCO 3.0, there was a festive mood at many of the malls in the Klang Valley as Muslims went about with their last-minute Hari Raya shopping.
With many having to contend themselves with spending another Hari Raya away from their hometowns and kampung, shoppers queued up from as early as 7am just to get into several morning markets and premises.
At the malls, security guards have started checking the MySejahtera status of customers before allowing them into the premises to weed out any high-risk individuals from slipping in.
PETALING JAYA: The movement control order has driven business owners, especially those in retail, to rethink their operations in doing their part to curb infections arising from their places of business and some of those measures may remain in the longer term.
Malaysia Retail Association vice-president Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin said retailers have taken to hiring more security personnel as a crowd control measure as well as setting aside a budget for sanitisation works.
“We also hire managers and supervisors to be placed in certain parts of our outlets such as the fresh produce section to manage customer flow there, ” said Ameer, who is also Mydin Mohamed Holdings Bhd managing director.
PETALING JAYA: A coalition of trade and business associations has asked the government to consult them when they come up with standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Industries Unite said they were always willing and would find the time to engage with authorities to design practical procedures.
“It is very detrimental when SOPs come out and cause so much uncertainty and fear. Then we try to amend it, but the damage is done, ” said one of its members Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok during a press conference on Wednesday (March 17).
Teo, who is also the president of the Malaysia Shopping Malls Association, said there were times when there was not enough consultation.
Thursday, 10 Dec 2020 05:47 AM MYT
BY R. LOHESWAR
Shoppers take a photo of the Christmas tree at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur December 9, 2020. Picture by Yusof Mat Isa
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KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 ― Retailers are asking the government to apply a more targeted approach when it comes to restricting movement instead of implementing a blanket conditional movement control order (CMCO) to control the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
This targeted enhanced movement control order (TEMCO) will at least allow businesses to recover from the fallout of the pandemic.
President of the Malaysian Shopping Mall Association (PPKM) Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok said the large-scale CMCO has severely dampened the momentum of recovery.