A RESTAURANT owner in Subang Jaya, Selangor is hoping to get some reprieve from the authorities for breaching the 8pm closing time for food outlets.

Rata restaurant owner and chef T. Vicneswara, 29, told The Malaysian Insight that he was slapped with a RM10,000 fine on Friday night.

He said he would be appealing to the Health Ministry tomorrow, adding that his business had dropped by 85% since the lockdown.

“The business is relying on delivery services to survive.

“My staff salary costs RM20,000 and my rental is another RM11,000. My business will be hit badly if I have to pay the full amount.

“If I have to pay the full amount then how do I pay staff salaries and other bills? We hope to shown some mercy,” he said.

Recounting what had happened on Friday night, Vicneswara said he was preparing the last few orders for the day when the authorities appeared at his outlet at 8.30pm.

“Before 7.30pm we received about five big ticket items, which were more than 20 dishes.

“Then at 7.30pm sharp, the merchant machine cuts off and there would be no more orders coming in.

“Because of the 60% reduction in staff, we only had four cooks working. So, it was difficult to prepare all the dishes by 8pm,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

He said that they were in the midst of preparing the pending orders and cleaning up when enforcement personnel from the Subang Jaya City Council (MBSJ), police and health officials came to the restaurant.

“MBSJ issued the fine for operating the restaurant past the closing hours stated in MCO 3.0 regulations.

“We tried to explain to them (the authorities) we were finishing the orders and cleaning the restaurant, but we still got compounded.”

He said that dinner time was when they got the most number of orders, which was helping the business.

“We are surviving on our dinner sales and not lunch or tea.”

He also said that his restaurant had been complying with all the government-issued standard operating procedure (SOP).

We hope that the government can consider allowing the restaurants to operate until 10pm.

“This in turn will help us to generate the needed revenue for our operations.” – June 27, 2021.