By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, July 17: Quite a number of eateries or food and beverage (F&B) premises around the capital city have chosen to continue banning the dine-in service voluntarily.
This came as an unexpected turn of events as many operators and customers have been longing for the lifting of the dine-in ban which was part of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) put in place for the implementation of Movement Control Order (MCO) in Sarawak since May 29, 2021.
The State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) had only lifted the ban on the dine-ins beginning yesterday (July 16).
A check by DayakDaily to one of the most frequented F&B premises in Kuching city, Swee Kang Ais Kacang located at Jalan Haji Taha, here saw that it had continued to provide only takeaways.
To prohibit unauthorised entry to the premises, they had tapes hung around it, together with stacked chairs and tables being combined to serve as a barrier so that no one can trespass into the premises easily.
A part of the premises also has its roller shutter being lowered to signify that the premises does not accept dining-in customers.
Nonetheless, chairs are still being provided in front of the premises so that customers who buy takeaways can sit down while waiting for their orders.
The premises owner Chang Saing Yan, 42, said those measures were important to complement the premises’ responsibility in adhering to the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the government.
“The SOP is okay (to follow) but what worries me is whether the customers could follow the SOP set by the government,” he said when met at the premises today.
Elaborating further, he said there may be cases in which customers may or may not have scan the MySejahtera QR code and just enter the premises straightaway.
Paranoid or not, he cautioned that allowing the dine-in service would lead to the limited premises workers and operators to have a hard time in controlling the movement of the customers.
“Any customers may be a carrier of the Covid-19 virus. With Kuching still recording a high number of daily cases, there is a bigger possibility that any of the customers may pass on the virus to others when being in the premises.
“If a positive case is detected in my premises, we would have to close down operation for two weeks. If that happens, not only that we are not able to earn income or record business sales, but I will also have to cover the cost of the swab tests of my workers etc,” he said.
He said the move to continue the dine-in ban may slow down the recovery of his business but he believed that the decision was a correct thing to do in order to protect the safety and health of his family and workers.
Apart from Swee Kang Ais Kacang, Hi-Bread Kopitiam is also prohibiting dine-ins at all five branches in Galacity, Kota Sentosa (Mile 7), Pending, Petanak and Satok.
Additionally, KFC franchise in Metrocity only operates for takeaways and drive-thru orders. Although the customers can still enter the premises and make their orders at the counters, KFC employees made sure that the number of customers in the premises is limited to the permitted capacity and social distancing is practiced.
On the other hand, the family-friendly eatery, Fauziah Family Cafe located at Metrocity, has began receiving dining-in customers to the premises right after the dine-in ban was lifted.
The first day of providing dine-in service at the premises yesterday saw customers flocking in at any one time but it was not too crowded since the SOP was also being strictly enforced.
Each dining table was only limited to two people with the practice of one-metre social distancing being taken into account.
Fauziah Family Cafe owner, Nazz Ismail, 42, informed that many of his stall operators and staff have been vaccinated with at least the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine and therefore, the premises could operate with 50 per cent capacity.
Among the 17 workers at the premises, one of them was posted at the entrance at all times to ensure that the registration via MySejahtera or customers’ logbook is done properly before the customers are allowed into the eatery.
Nazz informed that while he understood the public fear of how dining-in may increase the risk of Covid-19 transmission, he said he had invested a huge sum of money for the sanitisation aspect at the premises too.
Overall, it is safe to say that despite the lifting of the dine-in ban, F&B business operators and members of the public are aware of the Covid-19 situation in the State.
The initiative of some of the eateries in Kuching to continue banning dine-in service or taking extra measures prior to allowing dining-in customers translates their effort and concern towards the current pandemic situation and not focusing on ‘cari makan’ (earning your bread) alone. — DayakDaily
