Car wash operators, workers worry about limited operation hours

A worker at a car wash centre of a petrol station in Jalan Templer, Petaling Jaya, L.Singamugam said the move would bring adverse effects to his employer's business as many customers normally came during the lunch break and after 5 pm.

"Tomorrow I will know if I will be asked to stay on or stop working at the car wash centre," he said when met by Bernama.

The former plantation worker, who had only reported for work two days ago, said the directive would incur big losses to the centre as the workers could only managed to wash between three to four cars per hour.

Last Thursday, Selangor Menteri Besar Office Press Secretariat issued a statement directing all licensed car wash centres in Selangor to operate six hours daily, from noon to 6 pm with immediate effect.

According to the statement, the measure was to ensure enough water supply that could last under the El Nino phenomenon ends.

Cash wash operator Mohd Harris Fadzil Zakaria, 41, who runs a centre at Section 7, Shah Alam said, in principle, he agreed with the measure to save water that was being undertaken by the state government but regretted its decision to limit operating hours.

"We have a valid license to operate our business, it is inapproapriate and unfair to us. If they are serious about it, then get rid of the illegal car wash centres first," he said.

Another car wash operator, identified only as Lim, was very stressful when asked on this issue.

"The water problem is an old issue, so why has the (Selangor) government not resolve it yet. We open our shop from 9 am until 6 pm only," she said.

Lim said she would incur a loss of 50 percent if the situation persisted while another operator in Jalan Universiti, Petaling Jaya insisted he would still open his centre until 7 pm daily.

Meanwhile, a customer, Mohd Fadzil Ismail, 45, said the move to limit the operating hours was not a good solution.

"What about those, who wash their own cars. Don't they also use a lot of water," said the teacher.

Another Mohd Hafiz Zahari, 25, agreed with the directive to limit the operating houss of licensed centres and shut down those illegal ones.

The unemployed said it was one of the best solutions to ensure the water supply crisis did not recur in Selangor.