By Karen Bong
KUCHING, May 27: tHe Spring shopping mall was today caught up in sudden chaos after the police and health authorities appeared, blocked all entry points and refrained shoppers from leaving until swab tests were done as operations of the mall came to a halt at about 1pm.
However, a spokesperson from tHe Spring mall management, when contacted by DayakDaily, explained that the mall was not under lockdown as widely circulated on social media while shoppers were released at about 2pm.
The management pointed out that the confusion ensued due to a miscommunication between the relevant authorities and shoppers were initially asked to take a swab test which was supposedly for all its management and tenants staff as had been informed earlier.
Caught unaware, the mall management felt that the procedure could have been carried out in a more professional manner as it had caused panic in the mall that not only affects the shoppers but the entire management team.
While emphasising that tHe Spring has been and is committed to complying with all standard operating procedures (SOP) issued by the health authorities including the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC), the spokesperson reiterated that the management will do its best to comply with all instructions when the situation arises.
“If the authorities, be it Health Ministry or SDMC or the police came to us (to inform of the operation), we would have followed strictly and given advance notice to the public that the mall will be closed to facilitate their operation. We would have handled it properly.
“But they came unannounced and everyone is caught unaware. This is going to affect our image as well as impact our retailers who are already striving to stay afloat in these trying time.”
The spokesperson also explained that the management and tenants’ staff were already preparing to undergo swab tests after being informed earlier by the authorities as they waited for further instructions from the Health Ministry. — DayakDaily
