KUCHING: There has been a noticeable decrease in the number of market-goers in these past few weeks due to the recent spike in Covid-19 cases, says Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman Lo Khere Chiang.
He said the concern and worry of the people was a good thing as he believed that the main reason for the increase in the number of cases was the people’s complacency.
“People are getting complacent and that is why the cases have gone up. Now with the cases going up, people are getting worried and that helps because when people get worried, they don’t go out unnecessarily.
“This will help to reduce the number of Covid-19 cases,” he said today.
He said thus far, MPP had not faced issues with standard operating procedures (SOPs) compliance at markets under its jurisdiction, adding that market operators were all complying.
He explained that for each market, there was an operator who would take care of all the stalls in the market.
“We have been monitoring the operators and we want them to be responsible to ensure that the SOPs are being adhered to at all times.”
Lo said these operators were also responsible in ensuring that there was someone stationed at the market entrance to take the temperature and contact details of market-goers or that they checked in via the MySejahtera application.
In addition, he said operators also ensured that the number of visitors at any one time was restricted.
He stressed that any market operator who did not comply strictly with the SOPs would be required to close down their market.
“I am very strict about this. I have made it very clear that if there are any problems, we will close everything down.
“If this happens, the operator and the traders will suffer, so they do not want to take any risks and they ensure that everything is in order.”
