PENANG has come down hard on eateries and shops found flouting the standard operating procedures (SOPs) after all food outlets were allowed dine-ins by the state government since May 18.
The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) shut down one eatery in Jalan Burmah and one sundry shop in Jalan Gurdwara for a week from May 28 to June 3 while earlier, the state Health Department had ordered one eatery in Karpal Singh Drive to close.
In a follow-up action, the MBPP decided to allow the eatery in Jalan Burmah and the sundry shop in Jalan Gurdwara to resume operation yesterday after being satisfied with the precautionary measures they are taking.
State Local Government, Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo, who made a spot check on NS Nasi Kandar Restaurant in Jalan Burmah May 31, said the action taken by MBPP showed the state was serious as far as compliance with the SOPs was concerned.
“We’ve during our inspection by MBPP that this particular outlet had not complied with the SOPs for dine-in and also takeaway. As a result, action was taken against them three days ago,” said Jagdeep.
“In Penang, we will not compromise where there is non-compliance of SOP during this conditional movement control order (CMCO). The CMCO comes with responsibility.
“The responsibility comes with our priority to ensure public and health security. We’ve before this closed down one market in Penang.
“And unfortunately, in our enforcement after the dine-ins were allowed, as of May 30, two premises have been closed (by MBPP).”
Jagdeep also warned other outlets which do not abide by the SOP rules that MBPP and the Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) would not hesitate to shut them down.
“I want to stress that the battle against Covid-19 is not over. I myself had patronised this nasi kandar outlet before. But we cannot ‘play play’ with the rules.
“The objective of the state government is to ensure we’re all safe and healthy.”
Jagdeep added that as of May 30, MBPP had inspected 155,379 premises on the island and MCMO compliance rate was 99.64% while MBSP had checked 219,391 premises on the mainland and the MCMO compliance rate was 99.2%.
For this, he thanked the both councils for their hard work and also the public for their cooperation.
MBPP mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang, who was also present, said both the eatery and sundry shop were closed because they were “too crowded”.
However after inspecting the nasi kandar outlet today, Yew said he was satisfied with the assurance given by Abdul Hamid and the safety measures taken by the restaurant.
“I hope the restaurant owner will carry out what he has promised in observing the SOPs, like social distancing and contact tracing.
“We’ll monitor not only this outlet but also other food premises,” Yew said.
MBPP environment health licensing officer Bawani Murugasan said although the notice of the closure was for one week, the eatery and sundry shops have to shut down a minimum of three days and if they redeem themselves, MBPP would allow them to reopen even on the fourth day.
Others present were MBPP secretary Datuk Addnan Mohd Razali, MBPP councillors Wong Yuee Harng and Nicholas Theng, several MBPP staff members, the restaurant owner’s son, Abdul Hamid Nagoor Sultan and some of his workers.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Alissala Thian