GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government has urged the National Security Council (NSC) to allow food stalls to begin business at 6am compared to 8am now under the total lockdown period.
According to state Local Government Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo, Penang has over 1,000 food stalls in 35 premises which are situated near or inside public markets.
"The markets are allowed to operate as early as 6am but the food stalls can only begin business at 8am.
"The two-hour difference in operation hours makes it difficult for the food stall operators as customers who come to the markets early will not get the opportunity to buy food. We have received numerous complaints on the matter," he said during a visit to the Taman Free School market here today.
Jagdeep said the state submitted an appeal letter to the NSC at the end of May to standardise the operating hours for food stalls so they too can begin business at 6am.
"Yesterday, the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) has resubmitted an appeal letter for the NSC to reconsider the operating hours for food stalls.
"The situation in each state is different. While we agree that movement restrictions should be implemented to break the chain of Covid-19 infection, we also need to strike a balance between health safety and economic security," he added.
As it is, Jagdeep said, the people, particularly the petty traders, were facing a difficult time now.
"Some form of easing to begin business earlier should be given and the food stall operators are still bound by the standard operating procedures (SOP) in place.
"At the same time, the federal government should also review the SOPs for the lockdown period in each state since there are states reporting significant spikes in the number of Covid-19 cases while some states see a drop.
"Take Selangor for example, the Covid-19 cases there are still over 1,000 cases daily while here in Penang, there are times the positive cases dropped to double digits," he said.
Penang registered some 159 positive Covid-19 cases yesterday, bringing the accumulated number of positive cases to 33,485 since March 2020 with 116 deaths.