KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Territories Ministry will be forming a task force comprising local authorities and representatives from traders’ associations to look at alternative models for this year’s Ramadan bazaars to operate in.
Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa said the meeting would identify details of the alternative models for the proposed bazaar, in light of the ministry’s decision to do away with the traditional physical set up of the food market.
“It is not as straightforward as we thought due to the technical aspects,” he said during a press conference, streamed live on the ministry's Facebook page today.
“We are working with the traders to figure out what needs to be done because there’s not much time left before Ramadan begins,” he said, adding that some 3,000 traders were expected to join him and City Hall (DBKL) officers at the meeting.
The associations that would be representing the traders were previously listed to be part of the bazaars in the city.
Annuar said among aspects that needed to be ironed out included the issues of traders registration, locations, pick-up points and fixing a cut-off time for orders.
“As an incentive, each trader will be given RM500 to encourage them to adopt to the new system and to defray some of the costs that would have to go for the e-hailing services.
“We estimate that around 1,200 DBKL and Rela officers will be needed at these pick-up points to supervise and ensure SOPs are not breached.”
He said there were currently 66 locations previously identified for Ramadan bazaars in Kuala Lumpur and other locations, adding that schools and mosque compounds could also serve as alternatives if required.
“We hope to have traders registered by April 17 as we need to conduct test runs before the first day of Ramadan.”
On Wednesday, Annuar said the ministry planned not to go ahead with Ramadan bazaars and announced three alternative models to replace its conventional set-up. The alternatives models include drive-thru’s, pick-and-pack, and e-hailing options.
The drive-thru concept entails traders being distributed in segments while food would be pre-packed.
The pick-and-pack concept allows bookings or pre-orders to be made online, with the traders operating via platforms provided by the local authorities. It was proposed that payment system be made online, with the collection of food done in places determined by the local authorities.
Meanwhile, traders would also be registered on e-hailing platforms such as GrabFood and Foodpanda.