PUTRAJAYA’S two-hour time limit on shoppers under tightened movement-control order 3.0 rules is impractical, as retailers cannot regulate customers’ movements, the Malaysia Shopping Malls Association said today.

The association was responding to Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi’s statement that customers will only be allowed to remain at retail premises, including shopping malls, for a maximum of two hours, starting tomorrow when the tightened rules come into force.

“While we fully agree that limiting the time shoppers spend will definitely help to enhance movement-control under the current circumstances, it is totally impractical to enforce this as once shoppers are inside the mall.

“Mall management personnel have totally no control over where they visit and are unable to keep track of their movements,” the association said in a statement.

Acknowledging the authorities’ aim for tighter control, it said any measure imposed must be practical and doable, otherwise it will simply defeat the purpose.

Shoppers enter the premises via multiple entrances and will then disperse to the various business outlets, hence making it difficult for the mall’s management to count and limit the number of people in the premises at a time.

“These numbers of shoppers to malls are perpetually transient as they arrive and depart at any time,” it added further.

The association said malls could only put up signs at entrances and common areas as well as make announcements to remind shoppers of the time limit.

 “Apart from this, we opine that it is not practical for anyone to stop a shopper asking to check his or her MySejahtera to audit the time of entry plus nor do we have the authority to do so,” it said.

In the event enforcement authorities were to undertake this, it would be akin to a ‘police-state’,” it added.

The onus will, therefore, lie on shoppers to discipline themselves and adhere to the time limit.

“Thus, we are totally opposed to any attempt to penalise the mall and/or retailers for such misdemeanour,” it said.

Based on parking records, shoppers were only spending between an hour to an hour and a half at the premises since the start of the pandemic, which is shorter than the normal average of three hours.

The association said sufficient measures are already in place to prevent crowding.

Business premises within the mall are also controlling the number of customers allowed into the outlet at a time, with the maximum capacity numbers displayed at the entrances.

“Once this is fulfilled, we opine it should be sufficient crowd control. Similarly, it is not practical for such business outlets to monitor and check the shopping time duration of their customers,” it said.

Apart from that, events, exhibitions, promotion activities are no longer carried out, which means there is no longer any occasion where shoppers can congregate at the common areas.

“It is relevant to note that the natural capacity of the number of shoppers in a mall is limited by the number of car bays available,” it said.

“The number of bays provided is based on the Town Planning Rules of one bay per 40 sqm. Furthermore, the number of passengers in a car is now limited to three passengers and the number of people coming by public transport is not significant,” it said.

So we are of the opinion that limiting the numbers in a business/tenant’s premises suffices, and that counting the number of people within the mall is not practical and impossible to be carried out sensibly,” it added.

The association reiterated that it is here to work with authorities to find practical solutions.

Nanta Linggi said in a statement yesterday that the number of customers would be limited to one person per 4sqm.

He added that the number of employees at all retail, wholesale, distribution premises and shopping malls, including the management, operations and support, will also be capped at 60%.

Retail premises can operate from 8am to 8pm under the tighter Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for MCO 3.0, which will come in force tomorrow. – May 24, 2021.