WITH businesses struggling due to prolonged lockdown, business groups have urged the Government to allow the retail sector to reopen.
“This is an appeal for all shopping malls and retail outlets to be allowed to reopen by July 15 or when the 10% vaccination target is achieved, whichever is the earlier (except for those operations which cannot meet social distancing criteria).
“We are now in the midst of a debilitating enhanced movement control order (EMCO) in the nation’s most economically productive location of Selangor/Kuala Lumpur.
“Going forward, we trust that lockdowns will be judiciously determined based on locality and neighborhoods that are infected with significant clusters and not impose nationwide lockdowns which unnecessarily penalise areas that are low risk,” the groups said, in a joint statement.
The statement was signed by the Malaysia Shopping Malls Association (PPK), Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA), Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA), Bumiputra Retailers Organisation (BRO), Malaysia REIT Managers Association (MRMA) and Malaysian Association of Theme Park and Family Attractions (MATFA).
Despite forming the most numbers of clusters, the International Trade and Industries Ministry (Miti) had allowed the manufacturing sector to continue operating as usual.
However, the ministry’s defense of the sector has drawn flak by many quarters, including Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuiddin.
As clusters spike in Selangor, the Government imposed EMCO on Selangor to contain the number of COVID-19 in the state.
Malls are somewhat “safe bubbles”
The business groups said that Health Ministry (MOH) data reveals that retail and shopping sector, including outdoor outlets, merely contribute 0.8% of all cases in May, even prior to the nationwide lockdown which started on June 1.
They added the statistics showed how the retail and shopping malls are least affected by COVID-19, due to strict compliance to standard operating procedures (SOP).
“Shopping malls only admit staff and shoppers with low-risk status, based on their MySejahtera apps and whose temperatures do not exceed 37.5°C, thereby making malls a green bubble for all.
“And we no longer organise any occasions for shoppers to congregate because events and promotions, dine ins and entertainment are all prohibited for now,” the stated.
Unlike factories and office areas, they stressed that their employees only deal with transient shoppers in the outlets, typically less than 15 minutes, which is the threshold of safe interaction.
“Studies have indicated that this short period of interaction between shoppers and our frontliners do not contribute to infectivity as it is compulsory for both our frontliners and shoppers/patrons to wear masks.
“Based on the evidence, malls and retail outlets including those standalone shops in shopping areas are indeed safe for the public to visit,” they noted.
In general, the groups said that malls and retailers have been struggling for the last 16 months to keep their businesses afloat, adding any prolonged closures will be the final knell for industry.
They remarked: “We appeal to the authorities to allow the entire retail sector to re-open immediately, especially the shopping malls and retail shops, street front shops, indoor playland and family entertainment attractions with strict compliance to SOPs.” – July 3, 2021
