Don’t blame us for family gatherings, malls tell govt

[The_King]

PETALING JAYA: Mall managements cannot be held responsible for the actions of visitors once they are inside the premises, retailers’ groups said today.

They said it is not up to them to police what visitors do at their malls.

The groups said it was unfair to blame them over allegations that some people were organising family gatherings at malls in light of the ban on open houses and Hari Raya visits.

At a press conference yesterday, health minister Dr Adham Baba said some people were congregating at shopping centres to avoid flouting the rules under the latest movement control order.

“This can lead to another round of (health) crises if there is transmission (of the Covid-19 virus) at the malls,” he said.

In a joint statement, four retailers’ associations said that after the introduction of the Hotspot Identification for Dynamic Engagement (HIDE) system, malls proceeded to change their procedures to ensure that only those listed as low-risk by MySejahtera were allowed in.

“However, what these people do once they enter the malls is beyond our control.

“We cannot be penalised for having admitted only low-risk family members who have come to the mall for a family outing. There is no way to determine if the individuals who come in are part of a family outing group,” they said.

“The onus must be on the rakyat to refrain from such gatherings. It is not up to malls to police their actions, nor do we have such rights.”

They also urged visitors to follow the SOPs set by the government so that the malls were not made to bear the punishment unfairly.

“We feel totally aggrieved by the way HIDE is used to stigmatise the malls, especially when they have immediately and diligently rearranged the gate-keeping process.

“We now ensure that the MySejahtera system accurately records the information so that the data collected, when used by the HIDE system, is not distorted.

“We believe the health minister may have been misinformed of the real situation.”

According to the associations, with dine-in banned across most of the country, any HIDE data indicating families had gathered would largely point towards shopping for essentials or ordering takeaway meals.

The statement was endorsed by the Malaysia Shopping Malls Association, the Malaysia Retailers Association, the Malaysia Retail Chain Association and the Bumiputera Retailers Organisation.

[socrates469bc]

when ur own subordinates dont even listen to u.......