KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 — The Selangor state government today decided to implement new rules from tomorrow onwards, including allowing dine-in customers in restaurants and also food trucks albeit with limited operations, with Selangor residents now allowed access to all types of public parks with fishing to be permitted while hiking and camping is still disallowed.
Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said these new rules were agreed in a meeting today by the Selangor state government together with the mayors and head of local authorities as well as district officers throughout Selangor, and comes after the prime minister’s recent announcement of the extension of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) until June 9.
The decisions today are considerably more relaxed as compared to the Selangor state government’s May 3 decisions which had still put in place additional conditions as compared to the federal government’s position under the CMCO:
Amirudin listed four main decisions from today’s meeting to be highlighted, which would start being applied from tomorrow until June 9. Malay Mail has also provided a comparison with the previous decision:
i) New rules: Operations of restaurants, food courts, stalls with roofs and kiosks
Amirudin said all such food outlets in Selangor will now be allowed to fully operate from 7am to 10pm, which means customers are now allowed to eat and drink within premises but subject to social distancing being complied with.
He said that such food outlets will however not be allowed to set up tables at walkways or five-foot ways or in parking lots, further adding that restaurant operators are encouraged to give customers the option of making pre-orders to avoid congestion within the shop.
He said local authorities’ enforcement officers will carry out spot checks from time to time to ensure optimum compliance of standard operating procedures.
How this compares to Selangor government’s previous May 3 stand:
At that time, the Selangor government did not allow dine-in customers at restaurants and food outlets located within physical premises, allowing them to only operate for takeaway and delivery from 7am to 10pm.
ii) New rules: Food trucks and roadside hawkers without premises
As for food hawkers who do not have a physical premise, Amirudin said they can operate from 8am to 10pm, but said this would be limited to only drive-through, takeaways and deliveries.
“Local authorities will study the need to have hawkers take turns to operate if their locations are near each other and hinder social distancing to be practised by customers,” he said.
How this compares to Selangor government’s previous May 3 stand:
At that time, Selangor said food trucks and roadside hawkers can only start operations after May 12, to enable both local authorities and hawkers to have sufficient time to make preparations for social distancing and contact tracing.
iii) New rules: Market activities
Amirudin today said any form of animal slaughter and processing such as chickens at public markets, wholesale markets, fresh produce markets and private markets are not allowed, while all other market activities will be allowed to operate as usual.
He added that the ban on morning markets and night markets remain unchanged for now.
How this compares to Selangor government’s previous May 3 stand:
At that time, the Selangor government had only said night markets, morning markets, carnival sales, Ramadan bazaars and Aidilfitri bazaars are not allowed, in line with the federal government’s prohibition.
iv) New rules: Sports and recreation
“All types of parks are now allowed for the public to have recreation from 7am to 7pm. Hiking and camping activities are still not allowed. But fishing is allowed,” Amirudin said.
How this compares to Selangor government’s previous May 3 stand:
At that time, the Selangor government said the public is only allowed to exercise in empty spaces and community parks while practising social distancing, while activities in public parks such as Tasik Shah Alam, Taman Jaya and Tasik Cempaka were not allowed with the local authorities to issue a list of public parks that would remain closed to the public.
The Selangor government had also at that time said that all indoor sports facilities such as swimming pools and gyms would remain closed, while hiking activities such as at Bukit Gasing were not allowed.
More details to come
Today, Amirudin said the Selangor state secretary will be issuing a more detailed circular for reference and further enforcement from May 13 to June 9, adding that any activities or matters not detailed would remain bound by the standard operating procedures prepared by the National Security Council (NSC).
