SIBU: The Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) has ordered all food premises owners to limit the number of their dine-in customers.
SMC deputy chairman, Councillor Bujang Zainuddin Abdul Majid, when met on Friday, said, “The implementation of this rule is at the request of the Sibu Divisional Disaster Management Committee (DDMC).”
He explained that most of the positive Covid-19 cases in the district were recorded at food premises based on the Covidtrace on the MySejahtera application.
Bujang said it was the duty and responsibility of the council as a local authority to help reduce the number of customers and further curb the spread of the pandemic.
“Nevertheless, we still need the cooperation of the owners of food premises to make this approach a success.
“Food premises owners need to control the congestion apart from ensuring that only vaccinated customers are allowed to eat at the premises,” he said.
Bujang reminded the owners to give priority also to customer control, table arrangement and physical distancing.
He said the distance between table should be two metres while customers needed to observe physical distancing of one metre.
“The maximum capacity of customers allowed to eat in a premises for a table with a diameter of one metre is two people.
“For a table with a diameter of 1.2 metres, it is four people, and for a table with a diameter of two metres and above, it is six people.
“The capacity of customers is limited to only 50 percent by floor area and should not exceed 100 people at a time,” he stressed.
Bujang added the layout for the tables and chairs could not be modified as doing so could cause congestion and make physical distancing difficult.
He said the number of customers that had been set would be sent to the Resident’s Office, the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and the council’s enforcement unit.
“We also remind the owners of food premises not to allow individuals under 17 years old to dine at their premises because they have not yet received the Covid-19 vaccines.
Earlier, Bujang and the council members handed over the vaccination certificate issued by the council to the owner of a food premises at Jalan Bandong here.
He explained this certificate was important to prove to customers that the owners of the premises as well as their employees had completed their vaccinations.
“Owners of food premises as well as their employees who have completed their vaccinations are urged to apply for this certificate.
“The certificate is only issued to those who have completed the vaccine doses,” added Bujang.
He added that it was to provide a sense of security to customers when eating at the premises or visiting any food and beverage premises in the SMCadministrative areas.
