KUALA LUMPUR: The implementation of Movement Control Order (MCO) has not stopped people from visiting Chow Kit Wholesaler Market here although the authority has limited the number of visitors who can enter the market at a time.
A check by Bernama found that customers start queueing up patiently lining-up in very early in the morning while monitored by the police.
Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Mohd Fahmi Visuvanathan Abdullah said as of 10am today, about 700 visitors had already lined up to enter the market, which was allowed to operate from 6am until 1pm.
The police divided them accordingly into groups of between 30 and 40 and gave them 20 minutes to enter the market to buy essential goods.
“Customers need to register their names and undergo body temperature screening before they can enter the market. This is to ensure that they complied with the MCO,” he told reporters after monitoring the MCO implementation at the market today.
He said the police also set-up a special lane for the elderlies.
However, he regretted that some visitors did not practice one-meter social distancing or were not wearing face masks.
Mohd Fahmi Visuvanathan also reminded the people not to visit Chow Kit Market after 1pm.
“Action will be taken to those who refuse to comply,” he said.
To date, no arrests have been made by the Dang Wangi District Police Headquarters in relation to MCO implementation.
Meanwhile, several customers at the market described the entry limit as a good measure to break the Covid-19 infection chain.
A homemaker Aminah Abdullah, 44, said the 20-minute limit to buy necessities would be sufficient if the customers made initial preparations by listing the items to be purchased.
“I’m a regular customer in this market ... so when I came to the market, I already know my way to the items I need,” she said.
A civil servant, known as Amir, said he visited the market to buy necessities for his family.
“I came to buy goods in large quantities for my family because I need to go to Johor afterwards. My wife and children stay in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.
A worker in a private sector, Abdullah Sidek, 44, said as the head of his family he is taking over the task of buying groceries from his wife during the MCO period.
“I didn’t encounter problems because my wife had prepared a good list of items she needed, everything is in this market,” he said. — Bernama
