KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — The term of free licence under the Free Trading Area Programme of the Federal Territories Ministry which is scheduled to expire on July 31, has been extended until the end of the year.

Federal Territories Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa said the decision was to ease the burden of over 4,500 registered traders under the scheme and to facilitate the group in making their business plans as the country is still facing Covid-19 with the movement control order (MCO) in force.

“The permits will not expire next month and can be renewed automatically but they must key in the data online for us extend them automatically.

“They are not imposed any charges such as paying for the licence and site and they can continue trading under this programme until the end of the year,” he said via a live post on his Facebook after viewing the operations of traders in the federal capital today.

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Annuar also urged customers to cooperate to ensure adequate gaps between the stalls and said over 2,000 traders who have yet to obtain a permit under the scheme, for not meeting the criteria, such as selecting a suitable site, to quickly register.

“I have also told DBKL to check to ensure the positions of the stalls are not too close to one another in keeping with the standard operating procedure (SOP) set,” he said.

The programme was introduced on November 15 last year to enable the public in the three Federal Territories to open stalls or trade in suitable areas free of charge.

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In another development, Annuar also announced a 50 per cent discount to over 5,000 traders renting premises managed by DBKL, Putrajaya Corporation and Labuan Corporation and free licence for traders under the Urban Youth Entrepreneurship programme until the end of the year.

He also reminded traders who have high risk of being infected with Covid-19 to register and obtain their vaccination through the mobile truck programme which would be sent to more areas including the People’s Housing Project (PPR), Desa Rejang and Kampung Baru. — Bernama