GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government has yet to decide whether to allow the Ramadan bazaars to operate this year in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said that the state executive councillors had discussed the matter during this morning's state exco meeting but had yet to make any decision.
“We will monitor the situation before deciding on whether to allow the Ramadan bazaars to operate or not.
“Furthermore, both the Penang Island City Council and the Seberang Prai City Council have yet to issue any licenses for Ramadan bazaars in the state," he said in his daily Facebook live address to the people of Penang.
Yesterday, Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa had said that no decision had been made so far on this year’s Ramadan bazaars.
He had said that the Health Ministry and the National Security Council (MKN) would have to be consulted first before a decision was made, and it would also depend on whether the Movement Control Order (MCO) needed to be extended.
Health director-general Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had said that proper crowd control measures would be required if Ramadan food bazaars were to be implemented.
The first day of Ramadan this year is expected to fall on April 24.
On a separate matter, Chow said that Penang would abide by the Federal government's decision to quarantine Malaysians returning from abroad.
Beginning Friday, all Malaysians returning from abroad would be brought by the authorities straight to quarantine centres from the airport to undergo their compulsory 14-day quarantine at designated centres.
He said that the state Health Department was awaiting further instruction from the National Security Council on the matter.
“But the fact is that many of them returning will be coming in through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) before returning to the state.
“However, if there are people returning directly to Penang, then we will abide by the ruling and have designated places for them to be quarantined," he added.