ALL states must follow National Security Council (NSC) guidelines on the restriction order and consult the body before deciding matters like allowing certain shops to open, said Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He was responding to the Selangor government’s decision yesterday to allow vehicle workshops and spare-parts shops to operate daily from 9am to 4pm.

“To open or close any premise or factory, it must come from NSC. These are not ordinary times. During ordinary times, the local council can exercise its power to allow or not allow an industry to operate.

“But under the present situation, NSC is the only body that can come up with that order. I hope that every decision can be standardised with the federal government, and every decision must be based on NSC,” he told a press conference today.

Yesterday, Selangor local government exco Ng Sze Han said workshops can open daily to serve customers with car emergencies, so long as social distancing and other precautions are heeded.

In NSC’s list of frequently asked questions issued on April 2, on measures under the second phase of the movement-control order from April 1 to 14, certain businesses that were not listed as essential services previously are allowed to operate for two days a week.

They are sellers of agricultural products like fertiliser and weedkiller, hardware shops, pet food stores, and shops selling spare parts for agricultural and industrial machinery. – April 6, 2020.