MCO: It's unrealistic to pick up food at Ramadan bazaar - Ismail Sabri

The government feels that the concept of picking up food at Ramadan bazaars after making orders online is unrealistic and will create problems to the police during the time of the Movement Control Order (MCO), said Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The Senior Minister (Security Cluster) said that the MCO 's aim is to limit the movement of the people to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak.

If the concept of 'pack and pick' is allowed, he added, the people will probably use the excuse of picking up food at the Ramadan bazaar just to get out of their homes and further inconvenience the police at roadblocks.

“Some are of the opinion that making orders and picking them up at Ramadan bazaars could also cause movement of a lot of people. So, we make orders online but having to pick up the order physically can cause crowding and movement.

“The idea of having the MCO is that the people should not be allowed to leave homes. If there are places for pick-ups to buy goods, then the police are going to have a hard time because when they get to the roadblocks, they would give a reason to pick up their orders. So, everyone will use the same excuse,” he added.

Ismail Sabri said this when asked to comment on the concept of 'pack and pick' at Ramadan bazaars proposed in the Federal Territory which would allow the public to pick up food ordered in the designated area.

Yesterday, Federal Territories Minister, Tan Sri Annuar Musa said his ministry would present details of the new concept of the Ramadan bazaar to the Special Ministerial Committee on MCO on Thursday.

The Ketereh MP also said that the initial proposal for the Ramadan e-bazaar would allow consumers to either use the ‘drive-thru’ method to pick up food ordered or use delivery services.

Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said the ban on all forms of Ramadan bazaars was still in force but the Cabinet would look into it tomorrow and discuss the possibility for Ramadan e-bazaars.