KUCHING, May 2: The Kuching South City Council (MBKS) is looking into providing a 50 per cent discount for the renewal of licence fees this year for reflexology and health establishments under its jurisdiction.
MBKS mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng said the discounts were part of a new wave of measures to reduce the financial burden of business operators which could not conduct their businesses after they were affected by closures due to circuit breaker measures implemented by the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
He disclosed that the proposal has been presented to the Ministry for Local Government and Housing (MLGH) for approval last Friday.
“I have met representatives from the operators of massage parlours, gyms and so forth recently.
“Their line of business could not operate during this circuit breaker for Covid-19.
“The council will try to assist them during this challenging time.
“I believe our Minister (Local Government and Housing Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian) will look into the request for giving the discounts,” he said during his livestream session titled ‘Shall Wee Talk’ yesterday.
Wee hoped that Dr Sim would announce the good news for the operators next week.
In the meantime, Wee said the discount is applicable for outlets such as reflexologies and health establishment licences.
Wee estimated that the council could suffer a loss of income amounting to RM300,000 from the 50 per cent discounts given to those operators.
On another note, Wee said the operators of entertainment outlets, massage parlours and gyms have appealed to him for their businesses to open at this juncture as their businesses have suffered tremendously.
He added they have also proposed to implement tighter standard operating procedures (SOPs) during the current time to enable their business to operate.
Those include wearing a face mask inside the gym and providing foot massages as opposed to body massages.
Wee assured that the feedback from the business operators will be presented to SDMC for the consideration to be reopened. — DayakDaily
