Sabah malls allowed to open despite HIDE listing - The Star Online

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah National Security Council has decided that shopping malls listed in the Hotspot Identification for Dynamic Engagement (HIDE) system can continue with their business but with a limited number of patrons.

State Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun (pic), who is in charge of Covid-19 matters, said the malls must ensure there is sufficient space for physical distancing to be observed.

“Rela and City Hall enforcement officials will be stationed at the entrances to monitor all incoming and exiting customers.

“Premises will only be instructed to close if there is a Covid-19 case, ” he said.

Earlier, there was a brief confusion at two shopping malls here.

According to a source in Suria Sabah Mall, it started operating as usual yesterday as it had not received any directive from the state government to close for three days for sanitisation.

However, after police came to clear the confusion, the mall management agreed to close and told patrons to leave while staff stayed back to clear their work.

The Karamunsing shopping complex that had opened as usual was also instructed to close.

The Center Point Sabah mall followed the directive and issued a notice to its customers about the closure on its Facebook page.

The mall also called on its tenants to cooperate and conduct thorough sanitisation for the next three days.

“Once again, we are (taking these) pre-emptive measures to keep our community and business safe from Covid-19, ” it added.

Two other malls here, Imago and 1Borneo Hypermall, have not been flagged by the HIDE system.