ONE CHANCE TO GET S.O.P. RIGHT
Kuala Lumpur City Hall warns night market traders they will be shut down if they continue to flout rules
NIGHT markets that are cleared to operate in Kuala Lumpur will be given one chance to get their standard operating procedure (SOP) in order.
Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s Licensing and Petty Traders Development Department assistant director IV (licensing), Mohd Alif Naeim Anuar, said all night markets cleared to operate would be given one chance to get the SOP right or face closure.
“Inspections will be done on the first day of operations and a follow-up (inspection) will be carried out the following week. If they are still found to be flouting the SOPs, they will be shut down by the health officers, police or us,” he told the New Straits Times during a visit to the Seri Petaling night market which reopened on Tuesday after a three-month hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also cautioned traders against flouting trade regulations. Otherwise, they could be compounded and their goods seized for severe cases or repeat offenders, he said.
Alif Naeim said the night market traders seemed to be following the Covid-19 SOP, but were still not observing basic requirements, including displaying permits and trading only within their designated lots under canopies.
“We gave them reminders and listened to their list of excuses. But next week, there will be no more allowance. Our officers will immediately take action when a rule is broken,” he said.
During the visit, the NST saw an elderly trader selling Nyonya Chang (Nyonya glutinous rice dumplings) giving a senior City Hall licensing officer a toothless smile as he was “lectured” on what he should have done in accordance with the Recovery Movement Control Order standard operating procedure.
Seri Petaling Pasar Malam Association chairman Frankie Cheah said all went smoothly on the first day of op- erations save for some minor hiccups.
He said traders and visitors needed time to get used to the new guidelines and the bigger number of enforcement officers from various agencies under the National Security Council.
“This is why we have asked for one chance to be given to traders to get their act together.”
Cheah expressed hope that the officers could be a bit considerate as the traders did not have any income for three months and were used to their old ways of doing business.
He said there would be a need to have stricter monitoring on the social distancing aspect, especially when queuing because some visitors did not follow the guidelines.
“Overall, we received praise from City Hall in the Whatsapp group we are in along with other night market associations.”
Cheah added that on the first day of operation, business had been good with 1,800 people turning up at the night market throughout the operating hours from 4pm to 10pm.
Snack trader Sam Lam, 52, however, said, business had been slow because his first customer came only at around 6.30pm, adding that his business had been pretty much the same in the recently reopened SS2 night market in Petaling Jaya.
He also asked the government to extend the RM500 one-off Cakna assistance for petty traders as they had been out of work for over three months and business had yet to pick up.
Nasi lemak trader Laili Ramli echoed Lam’s sentiment, saying that half of her dishes would usually be sold out by 6.30pm, but it was not the case yesterday.
Evelyn Peter, an International Medical University student, said she usually went to the night market to buy groceries but there was not a single stall selling vegetables yesterday.
“The one food stall we found selling fruits had limited options. I hope this will improve,” she said, adding that the night market was usually packed with stalls, and visitors were spoilt for choice before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Seri Petaling night market had more than 1,000 stalls at one point and it was also known as the biggest night market in Kuala Lumpur.