File photo showing a coffeeshop that has removed chairs as no dine-in is allowed.
KUCHING (May 17): Restaurant, coffee shop and hawker associations want the government to finds way not to extend the ‘no dine-in’ directive beyond today.
“Now that the CMCO (Conditional Movement Control Order) circuit breaker has been extended until June 7, I think a lot of people operating eateries would suffer,” said Kapitan Tan Yit Sheng, a Kuching Coffeeshop and Restaurant Owners Association committee member.
He pointed out that more than 20 per cent of the 1,500 coffee shops in Kuching have closed since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced last year when no dine-ins were allowed.
If this directive continues, he fears more eateries may fold.
Tan reasoned that not permitting dine-ins would not completely curb the rise in Covid-19 cases, saying it was better to come up with stricter dine-in guidelines instead.
“We believe that coming up with such guidelines would help a lot of parties during the pandemic,” he added.
On May 11, the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) announced that in maintaining the current CMCO in lieu of the MCO imposed in Peninsular Malaysia, the standard operating procedures (SOPs) would be tightened including no dine-in at eateries until May 17.
On Saturday, SDMC announced that the CMCO will be extended to June 7 due to the high number of Covid-19 cases in Sarawak.
Also voicing agreement that dine-ins should be allowed with stricter guidelines was Sarawak Restaurants Association.
Members of the association said the no dine-in directive has affected not only their business income but also the income of their employees.
“We welcome any directive by SDMC to curb the spread and rise of Covid-19 cases including no inter-district travel and others, but the no dine-in directive has hit our businesses hard,” said Sarawak Restaurants Association chairman Kapitan Stanley Hu.
Kuching and Kota Samarahan Hawkers Association members also implored SDMC to find ways to avoid extending the no dine-in directive because it would adversely affect their income.
Its president Chang Hot Chai said members have lamented a significant drop in business following the implementation of the no dine-in directive on May 12.
“The no dine-in directive should be enforced only until May 17. We hawkers find it hard to survive if we do not have any dine-in customers,” said Chang.