WORKERS at Kuala Lumpur wholesale market in Selayang should be given vaccination priority after a third Covid-19 outbreak in the market, the head of a wholesalers group said.

As of yesterday, 170 Covid-19 positive cases linked to the seafood sellers were reported. This was out of a total of 900 seafood workers, with the rest still waiting for their results or to be tested.

The wholesale market has more than 4,000 traders and workers. 

KL Hoi Seong Fish Wholesaler Association president Sing Kian Hock said that the vendors and employees hope the Ministry of Health (MOH) can provide vaccination for them soon. 

“We are on the frontlines supplying seafood, vegetables and fruit in various states,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“During our meeting with the MOH officials, we raised that all 4,000 market employees can’t go for screenings frequently, as it would cost more than a million ringgit for everyone. 

“It is also difficult to ensure physical distancing in the market. There are many people coming in and going out of the market. If there is no crowd, there is no business.”

Only the seafood wholesalers and workers so far, have been screened for Covid-19.

Sing said he hoped wholesalers of other produce would also take the initiative to go for screening.

No seafood supply shortage

Sing told The Malaysian Insight that despite the outbreak, there won’t be a recurrence seafood wastage as happened during the first outbreak in April last year. 

At that time, fishmongers were forced to discard more than a million ringgit worth of supplies.

“We consulted with the MOH authorities. The confirmed cases and close contacts have been quarantined. And the other fishmongers are given two days to process the stocks.

“We would like to thank the Kuala Lumpur City Hall and MOH for allowing us time to deal with stockpiling to avoid losses.”

Sing said the fishmongers have temporarily stopped importing seafood from Indonesia and Thailand. 

“And local seafood supplies will no longer enter the wholesale market, but wholesalers will ship them directly to customers.” 

Thankfully, he said, the closure of the wholesale market for nine days coincides with the Hari Raya holidays. 

“So, there is not too much loss in terms of business volume. While local seafood supply has reduced, it won’t cause a shortage.”

He also said business has been affected by about 50% in the last three days, with customers leaving in a hurry after making purchases instead of lingering to browse as they did before.

“I’m afraid that following the news of the third virus outbreak, customers will stay away even after we reopen on May 17th.” 

There are a total of 448 stalls in the market, including 168 seafood stalls, 216 vegetable stalls, and 64 fruit stalls. – May 8, 2021.