Directive to close eateries during ‘tarawih’ being studied

It is business as usual for restaurants in Kelantan.

The directive to restaurants to cease operations between 8.30pm and 10pm during Ramadan had yet to be implemented, said Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Amar Abdullah.

He said the directive, which was supposed to be implemented immediately, would be studied by the local municipal councils first. The councils, he said, had yet to distribute a circular on the directive to restaurant operators.

“The directive was issued to only local municipal councils and they need to study the ruling to determine which regulations should be enforced under the council’s bylaws. This is in the event a trader breaches the ruling.

“As it (the ruling) has yet to be implemented, we (the state government) feel that it is too early to comment on this issue. We hope all quarters would take this positively.

The state government will listen to the people’s feedback on the matter,” he said after the state executive council meeting here yesterday.

On whether the directive was discussed in the previous executive council meeting, Amar said there was no need to do so as the order came from the State Secretary’s Office.

The directive was issued by the state government via the State Secretary’s Office to local councils in a circular on Monday.

The circular, signed by Kelantan deputy secretary (management) Datuk Adnan Hussin, stated that the closure was to “respect Ramadan” and to encourage Muslims to attend tarawih.

The circular instructed local councils to issue the order to restaurant operators in their areas.