THE Kuala Lumpur wholesale market in Selayang will be closed for four days from tomorrow after more than 100 Covid-19 cases were detected and more expected in the coming days, said vendors.

The more than 2,000 vendors and workers at the market have been screened, but half of them are awaiting the results.

This came following an announcement by Putrajaya that the whole country, except for Sarawak, will be placed under the movement control order (MCO) as the number of Covid-19 infections soar nationwide.

Previously, only Selangor, Penang, Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan), Malacca, Johor and Sabah were placed under the MCO from January 13 to 26.

Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, however, said yesterday Kedah, Perak, Pahang, Terengganu, Perlis and Negri Sembilan will now go under the MCO from January 22 to February 4.

Vegetable wholesalers told The Malaysian Insight with the closure of the Kuala Lumpur wholesale market, prices of vegetables are expected to increase although the current prices are already high due to the monsoon season.

Kuala Lumpur Vegetable Wholesalers Association president Wong Keng Fatt told The Malaysian Insight that he is not optimistic about the situation in the near future.

He said the closure was only for three days but businesses are generally closed on Sundays, thus extending the closure of the market to four days.

Previously, three cases were identified among the vegetable vendors. 

Yesterday 27 cases were identified, bringing the total to 30 among vegetable vendors and their workers.

Wong said 60% to 70% of the vegetable wholesalers supplies may be affected due to this closure. Customers will hesitate to stock up on vegetables because the produce has a short shelf life.

“No one is hoarding goods because the vegetables cannot be kept overnight. I usually buy them today and sell tomorrow, otherwise, they will rot.”

Based on his experience when the market was shut in May last year, the local supermarkets and hypermarkets will adjust their prices accordingly.

“There may be markets and supermarkets that will dominate the sale of vegetables, but the prices will definitely go up.”

Wong said vegetable prices are already high due to heavy rains and floods caused by the northeast monsoon.

“Because of the rainy season, our vegetable quantity is already very small, 30% to 40% less than usual.

“A lot of them are already on record high prices because it is the rainy season since November last year.

Kuala Lumpur Fruits Wholesalers’ Association president Chin Nyuk Moy said the fruit vendor’s Covid-19 test results have not yet been released. It is learnt test results are expected to be released this afternoon.

The fruit wholesalers have not received additional orders from customers and most of them are in the wait-and-see stage.

Chin, however, doubts a hike for fruit prices because it’s still some days away from the Lunar New Year.

Seafood wholesalers, meanwhile, have confirmed 87 vendors and workers tested positive for the virus.

Up till now, the local wholesalers said they are clueless on the source of infections.

In April last year, several residential areas around the market were locked down, after a cluster emerged among foreign workers.

The area around the wholesale wet market is densely populated by migrant workers and refugees. – January 20, 2021.