KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — Food trucks, wet and night markets, roadside stalls are among businesses here that must stop operating from tomorrow to March 31, Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Nor Hisham A. Dahlan announced today.
He said this order to KL businesses is based on the federal government’s two-week restriction of movement order announced yesterday.
He listed businesses that must be fully closed in the city during the two-week period as including shopping complexes, business complexes, entertainment premises, stalls by the roadside, food trucks, mobile hawkers, pasar malam or night markets, morning markets, pasar tani or farmers’ markets, and bazaars.
“However, for business activities for restaurants, hawkers centres and food courts, only drive-through services, delivery and takeaways are allowed,” the notice issued by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) under the city mayor’s orders read.
“Exemption for this closure is only given to supermarkets, public markets in buildings, clinics, pharmacies, sundry goods stores, convenience stores and premises involved with essential services only,” the notice read, adding that the city mayor’s order is issued in line with the Police Act 1967 and the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 and subject to further updates from time to time.
The notice also said DBKL will take enforcement action on any business owners who do not comply with this notice.
What are the DBKL services and facilities to be closed?
In a series of notices and statements, DBKL also announced the temporary two-week closure of several facilities and services in Kuala Lumpur, including DBKL’s Property Management and Valuation Department (JPPH) as a precautionary step to prevent Covid-19 from spreading to its staff and the public.
Separately, DBKL corporate planning director Khairul Azmir Ahmad issued a statement saying that DBKL would be taking proactive steps and act in compliance with the government’s restriction of movement order for two weeks.
Khairul Azmir said that DBKL would therefore close from March 18 to March 31 this list of premises and services, namely all DBKL offices; Dataran Merdeka; counter services for payments involving housing, licencing and one stop centre matters; and thyroid and meningitis immunisation injection services.
Also included in the list of services to be closed temporarily are public parks, multipurpose halls and community halls, sports complexes, the Kuala Lumpur Library and its branches and mobile library, works at construction sites, and public toilets under DBKL’s supervision.
During the closure of these services to the public, public feedback can be channelled by calling these numbers 03-9226 3112 / 03-9226 1312 / 03-9226 1112 for housing matters, while the emergency numbers are listed as 03-4024 4424 and 03-4026 7222. The public can also send their emails to [email protected] or access http://ispaaadbkl.dbkl.gov.my during this period, the statement said.
When contacted, the KL mayor confirmed to Malay Mail that all public parks in Kuala Lumpur would be closed.
Khairul Azmir confirmed to Malay Mail that the public parks to be closed are all 14 parks in the city, including Taman Botani Perdana, Taman Rimba Kiara, Taman Tasik Titiwangsa, Taman Tasik Manjalara, Taman Metropolitan Kepong and Taman Metropolitan Batu.
The other parks that will be closed are Taman Tasik Datuk Keramat, Taman Tasik Permaisuri, Taman Bukit Jalil, Taman Pudu Ulu, Taman Tasik Ampang Hilir, Taman Alam Damai, Taman Dusun Bandar and Taman Danau Kota.
As for the temporary suspension of the Kuala Lumpur Library and branch libraries’ services, DBKL in a statement said that there will be no penalty imposed for late returns of books if the scheduled return date falls within the two-week closure period.
DBKL also encouraged the public to browse the Kuala Lumpur Library’s collection of electronic books at http://kl.elib.com.my and to use the u-Pustaka service at www.u-pustaka.gov.my which provides 13.2 million digital reading materials for free, while adding that all library activities and events would be postponed to a later date to be notified in the future.
DBKL said any questions regarding the library can be sent to [email protected].
All the DBKL precautionary measures were announced in light of the government’s two-week order, which ultimately aims to prevent crowds that would enable Covid-19 to spread faster.
To slow the spread of Covid-19, the government’s order is banning all public gatherings including for social, cultural, sports or religious reasons, with only essential services and outlets selling daily necessities allowed to continue to operate.
Even before this two-week order was announced, the government had previously urged for the postponement of mass gatherings, and advised Malaysians to practise social distancing or staying at least one metre apart from each other to help slow the spread of Covid-19.
