Hajiji’s announcement that Sabah will stand by its earlier decision to allow dining-in at restaurants, eateries and hotels has turned out to be hugely popular among the people here.

Voo Min Loi, who has been serving Kuching Laksa for almost 30 years, said the uncertainty over whether dining-in is allowed has now disappeared.

“This is the announcement we have been waiting for … ‘banyak bagus’ (very good),” he said when met at his food stall in town today.

“We were happy when Hajiji made the initial announcement on June 28 allowing dine-in but that was quickly followed by confusion after the revised SOPs never came out and then the reminder to toe the line was issued by Putrajaya.

“It was confusing and created a headache for traders. But now we have peace of mind to set up our tables and allow customers to eat at our shop — a big thank you to the chief minister.”

Hajiji earlier today said the state government’s directive allowing dine-in effective June 29 following the implementation of Phase 1 of the national recovery plan was still in force.

This came after the SOPs released by the National Security Council (MKN) yesterday failed to specifically mention whether dining-in is banned. The SOPs were released ahead of the state’s transition into Phase 2 today.

Jeffrey Tangau and Jason Salleh said customers like them also did not have to keep looking over their shoulders whether they would be issued compound fines for dining-in.

“We can eat peacefully now knowing the enforcement agencies will be visiting only to see if people comply with health SOPs but not for dining-in,” they said.

“This is good. Hopefully, next they will allow more people to sit at one table.”

Sabah Smart Consumers Association president David Chan said Hajiji’s announcement was indeed a relief for eateries and related sectors.

“Many restaurants have been losing revenue (due to takeaways only) while hotels are in dire straits. The state government’s decision is very important during the current economic crisis,” he said.

Another customer, who declined to be named, said credit should also go to Putrajaya for allowing Sabah to set its own rules despite dining-in being only allowed under Phase 3 of the NRP.

Restaurant owner Brandon Young was glad that the Sabah government had put its foot down on the issue, adding that the state had been doing a decent job in keeping infections under control.

“Sabah has fulfilled two of three thresholds — the average number of daily cases and the usage of intensive care unit (ICU) beds.

“And according to the government, the state is on its way to achieving a better vaccination rate, which is the third indicator,” he said.

Eateries started to serve dine-in customers on June 29 but the absence of a revised SOP and rumours of operators being fined (which turned out to be untrue), forced many to ban dining-in again and return to serving takeaways only.

The uncertainty was heightened later that day after then senior minister for security Ismail Sabri Yaakob reminded all states to abide by the regulations fixed by MKN while the country was under lockdown.

The state then requested for a new set of SOPs for Phase 1, but the federal government never responded.

Local authorities then said they would heed the chief minister’s instructions and not issue fines for dining-in.

Meanwhile, former deputy chief minister Christina Liew praised the state government for being firm in its decision to allow dine-ins at eateries.

She commended the government for its consistency in maintaining an SOP which “is more empathetic to the small business sector”.

“This will clear the air of uncertainty among operators of coffee shops and restaurants, including those in hotels who need breathing space to survive economically,” the Sabah PKR chief said in a statement today.

Liew also hoped that Sabah’s requests for new stocks of vaccines and other forms of assistance would be met swiftly now with the appointment of a new deputy prime minister and senior minister for security to assist the prime minister.

The Tawau MP noted that the state government had asked Putrajaya to increase the supply of vaccines to Sabah immediately to meet the target of administering 30,000 doses a day.

“We hope the federal government will keep its promise to deliver 140,000 doses to Sabah every week after this week’s arrival as scheduled.

“Thousands of people have yet to receive their first dose despite having registered for vaccination months ago,” she said.