PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) is carrying out Ops Samar that involves inspections by more than 2,000 enforcement personnel, including going undercover as customers at business premises to check violations of standard operating procedures (SOPs) under the National Recovery Plan (PPN).
KPDNHEP Deputy Director of Enforcement (Operations) Shamsul Nizam Khalil in a statement today said an RM10,000 compound could be immediately issued to traders during the operations for breaching the SOPs.
He said SOP compliance checks were carried out on Aug 21 and Aug 22 in Penang, which is under Phase One of the PPN, adding that traders’ compliance with the SOPs was satisfactory.
According to him, KPDNHEP had issued the compound to premises owners in Seberang Perai Tengah, Penang for failing to display the maximum number of customers allowed in their premises.
“This action is a message to traders about the ministry’s seriousness and commitment in implementing Ops Samar to monitor compliance with the SOPs under PPN throughout the country,“ he said.
The government had previously announced relaxations for 22 trade and distribution sub-sectors allowed to operate under the PPN phases in compliance with the prescribed SOPS, among which business premises owners should ensure their customers show their Covid-19 digital vaccination certificate as proof that they have completed their jabs before they were allowed on the premises.
“It should be noted that the opening of this sub-sector does not mean that traders have the freedom to ignore the SOPs set by the government. The ministry hopes that all parties can work together to boost and revive the domestic economy,“ he added.
He said from May last year until yesterday, the ministry had inspected a total of 737,821 premises with 840 cases compounded amounting to RM4.4 million.
“Based on the statistics, SOP compliance in the distribution sector is at a very satisfactory level with 98.74 percent of premises found to adhere to the SOPs, while only 0.08 percent of premises compounded and the remaining 1.06 percent of premises given warnings,“ he said. — Bernama
