Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) mayor Noorliza Awang Alip said there was no ban on dine-ins while they wait for a decision on the state government’s request to the federal government to relax some SOPs in Sabah.
She said the city council would abide by chief minister Hajiji Noor’s earlier announcement on the relaxed SOPs while DBKK waited for clarity on the matter.
“We are still waiting for the new SOPs but the statements of the chief minister and deputy chief minister (on the relaxation of the SOPs in Sabah) will be adopted as long as there are no instructions to the contrary.
“At the same time, we will not take action to ban dining-in, which is subject to customers complying with SOPs,” she said when contacted by FMT.
Checks by FMT around Kota Kinabalu today found that a significant number of restaurants and coffee shops had started to allow dine-in customers.
However, there were a handful of operators who barred customers from eating in, allowing only takeaways.
On June 28, Hajiji announced that several social and economic activities would be permitted during Sabah’s Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan, which started on June 29.
These included dining-in at restaurants or eateries, sports and recreational activities without physical contact, such as exercising, golfing, fishing and cycling, and manufacturing activities involving rubber, cement, paint, wood and furniture products.
Despite the chief minister’s statement, official SOPs have not been issued and questions remain as to whether Hajiji’s proposals can be implemented.
A day after Hajiji’s announcement, senior minister for security Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Sabah should not relax the SOPs set by the National Security Council.
He said that all states should abide by one set of SOPs, but they may be allowed to tighten restrictions if they requested it.
Earlier today, former chief minister Salleh Said Keruak called on the federal government to bring clarity to the situation and questioned why there was no news yet on the new SOPs requested by Sabah.
“This has caused confusion and restlessness,” he said in a Facebook post.
“It is hoped that the federal government takes notice and respects our request in Sabah.”