Johor govt eyeing online platforms to help Ramadan bazaar traders

JOHOR BARU: The Johor government is looking at setting up online platforms to help Ramadan bazaar traders during the ongoing movement control order (MCO).

State housing and local government committee chairman Ayub Jamil said based on last year’s record, the Ramadan bazaar in Johor recorded more than RM200mil in sales.

He said last week the state government decided not to allow any Ramadan bazaar to take place in line with the Federal Government’s advice on the matter.

“This also includes drive-through format throughout the MCO as a preventive step to curb the spread of Covid-19, ” he said in a statement here on Saturday (April 18).

The Rengit assemblyman, however, said the state government had agreed to help Ramadan bazaar traders via online platforms.

He said they would be helped by two companies which had been appointed by the state government to handle the platform.

Ayub added that those wanting to promote and market their products would have to go through a screening process by the respective local councils, especially involving health and cleanliness at their respective food production premises.

“This is an early step for the state government in helping small businesses to be active in the digital economy, ” he said, adding that Johor has about 220 Ramadan bazaar locations involving 12,000 registered traders.

He also said so far, eight local councils were expected to refund RM855,695 in deposits to 3,064 Ramadan bazaar traders in the near future.

Ayub said the remaining eight councils did not receive any deposits from traders.

Meanwhile, state health and environment committee chairman R. Vidyanathan said food operators must follow the guidelines set by the Johor Health Department on food safety, especially those using online platforms to market their food products.

"It's important for everyone to understand and follow the food safety steps in making sure the items that are bought or marketed online adhere to the requirements, ” he said.