KOTA KINABALU, March 30 — Fast food outlets that have applied for 24-hour operations will only be only allowed to operate for 12 hours in Sabah while the movement control order (MCO) is in place, said chief minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal.
He said that although the outlets were approved for 24 hours at the federal level, at the state level, they would only be allowed to operate for 12 hours, from the morning.
“We have decided at the state level we will not be allowing them to operate all day. This is not only to discourage the movement of people, whether it is for takeaway or delivery.
“We want to ensure that supple is ample and they remain accessible to people, but we don’t want to encourage movement for the benefit of the workers too. We don’t want them to be working throughout the day and be exposed,” he said.
Shafie was speaking to reporters after chairing the state security council meeting today.
Currently all restaurants, eateries, sundry stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets can only operate up to 5pm while petrol stations and public markets can open until 2pm.
Compliance to the movement control order is at 95 per cent across the state.
Meanwhile, Shafie also said that some factories and farms in the east coast will be closed including Felda Sahabat due to the emergence of several Covic-19 cases.
“We have decided to close them in order to prevent the spread of the virus further. Those fruits and produce which have been picked can be processed but the plantations can no longer operate for now, until the MCO is over,” he said.
“We are not trying to inconvenience people and cause loses but this is about saving lives,” he said.
Earlier today, Putrajaya said the second phase of the MCO will see tighter measures implemented and operation hours of certain services reduced.
Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said eateries, markets, and petrol stations nationwide will only be allowed to operate from 8am to 8pm daily for the entire 14 days of the MCO’s second phase.
