Sibu Central Market's numbering system to ensure visitor's count below 650
SIBU: A numbering system has been implemented for Sibu Central Market to ensure that the number of visitors would not exceed 650 people at any one time.
In announcing this, Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) Market and Petty Traders Standing Committee chairman Councillor Albert Tiang says each of the five entry-exit points at the market has its own designated visitor's count.
“Gate 1, 2 and 3 can each allow up to 150 visitors at a time, while Gate 4 and Level 2 carpark can each have a maximum of 100 visitors.
“The mechanism is that once an entry-exit point records the maximum number of visitors – say, the number has reached 150 visitors for Gate 1 – then the security unit would close that point and not allow any more visitors to enter.
“Every time a visitor leaves that entrance, the number is deducted from the previous scan.
“For this system, we use colour codes to track the number – ‘blue' marks visitor's entry, while ‘red' indicates the exit,” he told The Borneo Post when contacted yesterday.
Meanwhile, a brief observation over Sibu Central Market yesterday showed many traders had yet to reopen for business.
The popular market reopened yesterday after having been closed since Feb 8 this year.
It is informed that at present, it houses more than 1,100 hawkers.
Tiang said if based on alternate-day trading schedule, there should be 562 stalls opening by now.
“Today (yesterday) is the first operating day of Sibu Central Market after about three weeks of closure, (but) only 144 traders have turned up.
“Maybe some of them have yet to stock up their items, so they cannot trade,” he added.