KUCHING: Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) will discuss further on the implementation of e-bazaars in the state.
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian said this in response to a question by a reporter on whether Sarawak will follow the federal government’s ban on e-bazaars.
“The SDMC will deliberate on it and we will make an announcement soon on what Sarawak will do,” he said yesterday.
He added that Sarawak was very fortunate to have its autonomy and the state government would make use of it to come up with a decision on e-bazaars.
“We are very fortunate to have our autonomy with understanding by the federal government that most decisions announced, be it from Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) or Ministry of Health (MoH), the ultimate decision whether Sarawak will adopt, differ or follow depends on SDMC and we have the authority to do that,” he explained.
On April 5, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg announced a ban on Gawai Dayak and Ramadan bazaars this year to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the state.
To compensate, he encouraged the people to use e-bazaars as an alternative which is online sales of food items.
However, the federal government on Thursday decided not to allow the e-bazaar concept to replace the traditional Ramadan bazaars for the duration of the movement control order (MCO) period.
