Allow all tyre shops, workshops to operate – association
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah West Coast, Kudat & Interior Residencies Tyre Dealers’ Association (Tyre Assocation) president Herman Yee Nyuk On yesterday urged the State Government to consider allowing all its members to operate to cope with the demand for vehicle service and maintenance, instead of only permitting a few number of premises registered under the Public Works Department (PWD) to open during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period.
“Of the 80 members of Tyre Association, only one (registered under PWD) is allowed to operate.
“This is inadequate to meet the market demand, given that the transporters of daily necessities and service providers need to have their vehicles, including tyres, in good condition to ensure their operations are not disrupted.”
Yee said every tyre dealer or workshop handled different group of customers, such as big lorries or private vehicles.
He said lorry owners and transporters were in desperate need of tyre and workshop services as they remained operational during the MCO.
“There is bound to be a long queue if only a small number of tyre shops and workshops are allowed to operate.
“The workers may even ignore the preventive measures they should take due to the heavy workload.
“It is far better to have more tyre dealers and workshops in operation to cope with the demand.”
Yee said the association members were also confused as to whether the selected premises that were permitted to conduct operations during the MCO period would only service government vehicles or private vehicles as well.
State Secretary Datuk Safar Untong had said only a number of tyre shops and workshops in Sabah, registered under the
Public Works Department, would be allowed to conduct operations during the MCO pe-riod.
The selected premises will only be allowed to operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from 8am to 2pm.
Yee hoped that the government would allow all tyre dealers and workshops to open for business.
He said the operators were willing to comply with the threeday work week and the reduction of operational time to six hours.
“We have been closed for two weeks. The MCO has been extended for another two weeks till April 14.
“If the order is further extended, how are we supposed to pay our suppliers, workers’ salaries, rental and other expenses without income?”
Yee added that the association members also included tyre distributors.
If the authorities only allowed tyre shops and workshops to operate but not the tyre distributors, the tyre shops would not be able to conduct business once their stocks had been sold out, he said.
He added that both lorries and government vehicles had to be regularly maintained to lower the risk of accidents.