AFTER spending hefty amounts to ensure standard operating procedure (SOP) compliance against the spread of Covid-19, more retail outlets should be allowed to open in malls, a shopping malls group and mall managers said.

Malaysia Shopping Malls Association president, Teo Chiang Kok, said there is no reason why more retail outlets cannot open during the current lockdown if the SOP is in place.

Mall owners have already spent up to millions of ringgit to ensure that their malls have ample security and technical personnel, sanitisers, cleaning equipment, check-in equipment and other requirements to ensure shoppers’ safety, he said.

Malls are also following the procedure to check people’s Covid-19 risk status on their MySejahtera apps before allowing them in.

With all these measures, the government should consider allowing more outlets to reopen as part of balancing lives and livelihoods.

“For manpower, security personnel has to be stationed at all entrances, resulting in increased salary costs.

“Then there is equipment costs, such as temperature readers, sanitisers, disinfectants for frequent touch areas, back-of-house air conditioning equipment and hospital grade filters,” Teo told The Malaysian Insight.

Other steps malls’ management have taken is to have “SOP ambassadors” patrolling the premises to enforce social distancing in common areas, he added.

Under the current movement-control order, which began nationwide on June 1, all non-essential retail outlets in malls are closed and only those serving food and selling groceries and essentials can operate.

The MCO, which was to end on June 28, has been extended indefinitely as the government’s threshold to loosen movement restrictions have not been met. These include daily Covid-19 cases dropping to below 4,000, and 10% of the population fully vaccinated with two doses. As of yesterday, only 7% of the population has two shots of vaccines.

The cost of compliance

Teo said different malls would have spent different sums of money on meeting these requirements, and could not give a ballpark figure on the cost as the sum would depend on the size of the mall.

But after a year of pandemic, he said the costs are high, as measures such as cleaning and sanitisation, and maintenance of equipment and machinery to ensure air circulation within the building, are ongoing costs that eat into cash reserves.

A Sunway Malls spokesman said since the first MCO last year, they had spent more than RM2 million to adhere to the SOP for the seven malls under the Sunway group.

“The highest expenditure was undertaken initially when investment had to be made on safety equipment and sanitisation supplies, at around RM2 million.

“These included high-accuracy thermal scanners, fogging, sanitisation supplies, social distancing initiatives and others.

“This capex (capital expenditure)  was the higher cost outlay initially. Subsequently, it was more monthly opex (operational expenditure) to ensure the SOP is complied with,” the staff said requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to issue a media statement.

As for monthly expenditure on SOP for the malls, the spokesman said that it varies depending on the size and operations of the premises.

He also said Sunway Malls has adopted stricter procedure on entry to the group’s malls, such as checking visitors’ status on MySejahtera.

“Previously, emphasis was focused on ensuring checking in via MySejahtera, now an additional step is taken to check the risk status first.

“For Sunway Malls, we display at the onset at all mall entrances which risk category is allowed to enter and which is not allowed.

“This in addition to a host of other SOP that the government had introduced from time to time.”

The spokesman said that in principle, the intention of the SOP is to ensure social distancing and protection for visitors.

“Retailers based inside the malls will also conduct checks. So, anyone who is in the mall has already been screened, but some retailers do check again as an additional layer of safety.

“We are in a controlled environment and it is much easier to manage compared to street retailing. So, more retail outlets in malls should be allowed to open.”

IOI malls senior general manager Chris Chong also agreed that the government should allow more outlets to reopen in malls.

Since last year, the group has spent about RM700,000 to adhere to the SOP, including miscellaneous expenses, he said.

“The funds spent on the SOP does not include staff costs. Our personnel deployed to man our mall entrances are our own employees and auxiliary police.”

He said the security personnel stationed at all entrances will ensure visitors check in on MySejahtera and check their risk status before anyone is permitted entry.

“Once in our mall, should they enter any outlet, they need to scan the app again to record their movements within the mall.”

Chris said that all SOP issued by the authorities, including any changes or updates are adhered to closely and communicated to shoppers accordingly.

“Though it has been challenging for everyone, it is the new norm now to adhere to all SOP and everyone is looking forward to vaccinations and moving forward towards herd immunity.”

There are three malls under the group, which are IOI City Mall Putrajaya, IOI Mall Puchong and IOI Mall Kulai.

Their monthly expenditure for SOP also varies due to the size and operations of their premises.

Don’t penalise shopping malls

Various mall and retail groups have issued statements urging the government to allow more trade in sectors not on the negative list of economic activities in malls.

Not being allowed to operate fully is an unfair deal as malls and retailers have been complying with SOP, they said.

The Malaysia Shopping Malls Association, Malaysia Retailers Association, Malaysia Retail Chain Association, Bumiputera Retailers Organisation and Malaysia REIT Managers Association last month also asked the government to make data-based decisions, saying the retail and shopping sector only contributed 0.8% of all Covid-19 cases in May.

The groups said that 30% of malls nationwide have closed and 300,000 workers have lost jobs over the last 16 months, and called for financial assistance to avoid business closures and more layoffs, now that the lockdown has been extended indefinitely. – July 1, 2021.