PETALING JAYA: Some business owners are against the government’s move to make them check visitors’ risk status on MySejahtera from May 1, when the check-in requirement imposed on individuals will no longer apply.
On Wednesday, when health minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced the lifting of the requirement on individuals, he also said premise owners would be required to check visitors’ risk status on the MySejahtera app and to deny entry to those categorised as high-risk Covid-19 positive cases and those under quarantine.
Describing the ruling as the “most ridiculous SOP” the government has introduced, Ameer Ali Mydin, managing director of Mydin hypermarkets, warned that there might be resistance, with people not allowing their phones to be checked.
Ameer, who holds leadership roles in the Malaysia Retail Association, the Bumiputera Retailers Organisation and the Federation of Malaysian Business Associations (FMBA), told FMT the issue was now hotly debated among his peers.
“We are all talking about this in our WhatsApp groups,” he said.
“We don’t know how to implement this. It should not be the mall owners’ responsibility to worry about the public.”
He said business owners were not consulted before the SOP was announced.
Two other business leaders spoke of the risk of people falsifying their MySejahtera status to gain entry into premises.
FMBA vice-chairman Raymond Woo said people might cheat to show a screenshot of a low-risk status.
“As shop owners, we will check, but the onus is on citizens to play their part,” he said. “It’s difficult for businesses to check if it is from the app or a screenshot.”
SME Association of Malaysia vice-president Chin Chee Seong said some people might not update their MySejahtera status if they tested positive.
“It has got worse. Before this, individuals would just have to scan their phones to check in. Now they have to show their phones to enter businesses,” he said.
Chin also said the cost of stationing workers at entry points would be a burden, especially at malls, which have several entrances.
Malaysian Indian Restaurant Owners Association president J Suresh said the last thing that restaurant operators needed right now was added responsibilities, especially since many of them were facing a shortage of workers.
“It’s a good thing that we are slowly getting back to normal, but now we have the problem of checking customers’ risk status,” he said,
“They should be making it easier for restaurant operators, especially during this current labour shortage. If you ask us to do this manually, it’s just going to be another thing to worry about.”
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2022/04/29/new-mysejahtera-sop-ridiculous-says-business-leader/