File photo shows customers at a section of Sibu Central Market. SMC seeks to vaccinate all hawkers and their assistants to regain consumer confidence.
SIBU (July 6): The Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) seeks to vaccinate 100 per cent of its hawkers and their assistants against Covid-19 to regain public confidence.
SMC Market and Petty Traders standing committee chairman councillor Albert Tiang said only then could business return to normal.
“We want the people to return to the market, at the moment, some markets only have probably 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the customers. We want the people to come back to the market to shop and the only way to do that is to have all our hawkers vaccinated,” he told The Borneo Post when contacted today.
He pointed out that once the vaccination drive is completed in August, those who had yet to be vaccinated would not be allowed to trade.
“We will not revoke their licence — they still maintain their license, but they are not allowed to trade until they receive their vaccination. The whole purpose is that we want our markets to be safe and thus regain the confidence of the members of the public,” he said.
Tiang said SMC has between 1,600 and 1,700 licensed hawkers and those with temporary permits.
“This figure does not include their assistants. We do not have the exact figure on how many of them have registered, but I can say that we received high cooperation from market licensees,” he said.
Those who have registered for Covid-19 vaccination would either already have received at least their first dose of vaccine or would receive it this week, he said.
Based on SMC’s records, he said there are fewer than 300 hawkers and their assistants who have registered for vaccination and have yet to be inoculated.
“We would not know how many hawkers have not registered with the vaccination programme until the vaccination drive for the hawkers is completed.
“We will request the hawkers to submit their vaccination card, and from there, we will find out the number of non-vaccinated hawkers,” he said.
As of last week for Sibu Central Market, he said less than 10 per cent of those who had registered had yet to be vaccinated and they should have received their first dose this week.
Tiang urged all licensed hawkers and those with the temporary permits to cooperate and register for vaccination.
According to him, the Sibu Division Disaster Management Committee (SDDMC) has submitted 3,343 names to the Sibu Indoor Stadium vaccination centre to arrange for inoculations this week.
“The list from my understanding includes market licensees, coffee shops, and hair salons, and we believe that the majority had already received their vaccination,” he added.