KUCHING: Many food stall operators at Kubah Ria Complex here are optimistic about their business prospects in the month of Ramadan, even though they have to comply with the limited operating hours under the movement control order (MCO).
While business has dropped dramatically because of the Covid-19 pandemic, they are still grateful for the encouraging response, especially from their regular customers, who are willing to place their orders via online on WhatsApp and telephone calls.
According to one of the operators, Hamimah Kelas, 48, together with her husband Ismadi Razali, they are still running their business during the MCO period with the help of their children Siti Basirah, 28 and Siti Amirah, 25, who have been operating the business for the past several years.
Although the atmosphere at the complex is not the same as before, she and the family continued their business of selling ‘Nasi Campur’ and other side dishes online.
“Although the daily sales are also less than before, it is still enough to cover our business expenses as well as helping make ends meet,” she said.
She also thanked the state government for the Sarawakku Sayang Special Aid Package (BKSS), which also alleviated the burden of micro entrepreneurs.
The same sentiment was also echoed by another operator, Suziayanah Abdullah, who is popular for her ‘Mee Bandung Muar’.
“With this kind of help, small traders like us can breathe a sigh of relief as it eases some of our financial burdens that are inevitable during the MCO period,” said Suziayana, who has been doing business there since 2010.
Aided by her husband Rosman Yatim, 58, and her daughter, Rohayu Rosman, 33, she is glad with the good turn of events despite facing uncertainty, especially on how long the MCO period is to be enforced.
For Nuur Afikah Ramlee, 28, she and her husband Agus Susanto had to man the food stall at the complex ever since the MCO after they decided to stop employing full-time workers.
“We had to rely on ourselves to serve our regular clients and also to prepare their orders because there are no workers now since it is better for us to save the money to sustain the daily business operation,” Nuur Afikah, who hails from Limbang, said. She has been operating there for the past three years.
One of Kubah Ria Complex’s popular operators who operate the ‘Nasi Lemak Ganja’ dishes, Zaini Apen and his wife Engku Aida Al Karim, said they were both grateful for the special assistance provided by the state government to SMEs.
The 44-year-old, who has been in business there for the past 10 years, expressed his gratitude for being given a life line, especially in mitigating operating costs such as wages for his 10 employees and buying raw materials.
Zaini also expressed his gratitude to many of his regular customers who are still giving encouraging response to his wide range of nasi lemak dishes, and there are a lot of orders online in which delivery was through the GrabFood, FoodPanda and Helpy applications.
On a separate matter, SEDC Sarawak is currently providing waiver of rent to food operators and tenants at Kubah Ria Complex and other business premises under its management throughout the state.
According to general manager Abdul Hadi Datuk Abdul Kadir, the waiver of rent was granted for a period of six months and would end in September.
“The assistance provided will ensure that the SMEs under SEDC entrepreneurship scheme will be able to sustain their business operations until the MCO ends.
“In addition, SEDC Sarawak also called on local entrepreneurs to apply for the Sarawak Micro Credit Scheme (SMCS) I and II, which had been provided by the Sarawak government with the submission of applications started on April 1,” as stated in a press statement issued yesterday.
Under the micro credit scheme, all local SME operators, whether Bumiputera or non-Bumiputera, can submit their applications for funding by the state government, which has topped up another RM20 million on top of the already approved allocation of RM30 million earlier on.
For SMCS I, the state government is providing loans or financing ranging from RM1,000 to RM10,000 with no interest or profit rate for B40 entrepreneurs.
While under SMCS II, local SMEs can apply for loans or financing from RM5,000 to RM50,000 with interest rates of four per cent based on a reduced monthly balance (more or less the same as a two percent effective rate).
Additionally, the state government also approved a six-month repayment waiver period from April to September for borrowers of the scheme as a good move to ease the financial burden of SMEs.
At the same time, the state government also announced a deferment of repayments of Small and Medium Industries Loan Scheme (SPIKS) loans for the next six months and this will benefit many local SMEs.
Those who are interested can fill out the application form which can be downloaded from the SEDC Sarawak website www.sedc.com.my.
