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FT minister says Ramadan, Aidilfitri bazaars can go on with shorter hours despite MCO in KL

Visitors maintain physical distancing and wear face masks to comply with standard operating procedures (SOP) when visiting the Kampung Baru Ramadan bazaar, April 14, 2021. ― Picture by Hari Anggara
Visitors maintain physical distancing and wear face masks to comply with standard operating procedures (SOP) when visiting the Kampung Baru Ramadan bazaar, April 14, 2021. ― Picture by Hari Anggara

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa has today echoed National Security Council’s (NSC) regulations on movement control order (MCO) by allowing Ramadan and Aidilfitri bazaars to remain operational.

He added that the vendors will have to follow NSC guidelines and their hours of operation will be shortened.

“The bazaars can be continued [to operate] but the period of operation is only five hours, from 3pm until 8pm,” he said.

Annuar said that Aidilfitri bazaars can be open for business for 12 hours from 10am until 10pm during MCO.

He said some vendors had approached him and insisted on extending the hours of operation until 2am to allow customers coming back from Terawih prayers to shop but he had to reject the idea as it may cause congestion.

“We have researched the appeal, we found that we cannot allow (hours extension) because if everyone chooses to go after Terawih (prayers), it will be crowded,” he said during the ministry’s press conference earlier today.

Compared to its neighbour, the Selangor government announced yesterday that all Ramadan bazaars in the districts under the movement control order must stop operating from May 8.

Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said the date was chosen to allow the bazaar operators and traders some grace period to clear their existing stock.

The capital city here will come under a movement control order (MCO) from tomorrow, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said yesterday, just a day after its perplexing omission from the partial lockdown imposed on all the Selangor districts surrounding it.

The senior defence minister said in a statement this evening that the National Security Council decided this after considering the emergence of 17 Covid-19 clusters in Kuala Lumpur over the past week.

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