No Ramadan bazaar in Sabah this year - State Secretary

KOTA KINABALU, April 3 – The Sabah government in principal is not allowing Ramadan bazaar throughout the state this year in the effort to curb the COVID-19 outbreak.

State Secretary Datuk Safar Untong said the ruling was in line with the government’s decision to prohibit the ‘tamu’ and farmer’s market.

“The state government will make an official announcement (regarding this matter) including the standard operating procedure (SOP), among others, involving every activity to be carried out in the state,” he told reporters here, today.

Safar said the state government was now in the process of finalising the SOP, including the operation hours of every supermarket in the state, to ensure the outbreak would be totally contained.

“If previously the SOP and the operation hours were not standardised, now we want to standardise them, for example, in supermarkets; every worker and shopper must wear face masks and use the sanitiser,” he said.

Meanwhile, Safar said the Public Works Department (PWD) has been ordered to repair or replace broken basic necessities in every quarantine centre in the state.

“Any quarantine centre in Sabah that needs repairs, we will fix them using the state’s government allocation, although the buildings are owned by the Federal government. I am sure PWD is now in process of repairing (broken basic needs in quarantine centres),” he said, in response to a viraled video on social media, which showed unsatisfactory condition at a quarantine facility in the state.

A total of 28 quarantine centres were established in Sabah to isolate individuals suspected to be positive COVID-19 and at risk of infecting others.

Commenting on quarantine accommodations in three-star hotels, Safar said Sabah at the moment had been using two three-star hotels to house individuals who returned from abroad and needed to undergo the 14-day quarantine.

“However the costs will be borne by those involved,” he said, adding that the government’s quarantine centres were free of charge and had food served.

-- BERNAMA