GEORGETOWN: The city's famous Nasi Kandar restaurants are grappling with the decision to either temporarily close their operation or switch to takeout-only services during the scheduled four-day water disruption in the state.
Deen's Maju Nasi Kandar Restaurant manager Mohamed Ismail Seeni Mohamed expressed regret as this marks the first time they are compelled to take a 'temporary break' due to water supply issues.
He anticipated a significant loss in sales revenue, estimating it to be around RM50,000.
"We need a lot of water, for instance, to clean about 150 chickens and 200 kilogrammes of rice every day, not to mention washing utensils and serving customers.
"If we remain open, we are afraid of encountering various problems because we ourselves are not sure how much water needs to be stored during this period.
"To all Deen's Maju supporters, we apologise for having to close for four days starting at 9.30pm tonight," he told Harian Metro when met here yesterday.
Meanwhile, Pokok Ketapang Nasi Kandar Restaurant manager Mohammad Uvas Mohammad Jamil said they decided early on to halt operations since the announcement of the water disruption issue by the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) on Dec 8.
"We thought about it, felt it would be difficult to store water. So we gave all 15 employees leave starting from tomorrow until this Sunday.
"It is okay, even though we expect to lose revenue of around RM30,000. On normal days, if there are no problems, we are open every day from 6 am to 8 pm, except on festive occasions," he said.
Hameediyah Restaurant is taking a different approach as they are willing to spend RM18,000 to rent 30 water tanks.
Its management representative Shazwani Abdul Rahim said it cost them RM600 for each the rented tank, which they obtained from a private company, for the use of the branch in Lebuh Campbell.
"At the moment, all tanks with a capacity of 300 litres each are already filled with water.
We have planned for about two weeks and for now, we have decided to only accept takeout orders," she said.
Previously, it was reported that about 33 per cent of the 590,000 water consumers set to be affected by the water supply disruption on Jan 10 are expected to get their water supply within 48 hours.
The 197,025 affected consumers are in mostly in the key areas in the Seberang Prai Utara and Seberang Prai Tengah districts.
About 84 per cent or 495,965 affected consumers are expected to get water supply in 72 hours.
They are in most key areas in the northeast district and southwest district on the island, which include George Town, Bayan Baru, the Bayan Lepas free trade zone (FTZ) and Penang International Airport (PIA), as well as the Seberang Prai Tengah and Seberang Prai Selatan districts.