By Zareef Muzammil
SHAH ALAM, April 17 — The Selangor government will announce the system of its Ramadan e-bazaar by next week, says its Menteri Besar.
Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said the concept of the state e-bazaar will not go against the rule that had been set by the Federal government, which had banned all forms of Ramadan bazaar except the existing food delivery service.
“We will be using the e-hailing concept that is basically food delivery to homes.
“Right now we have the restaurants providing food delivery, and it will be the same for the e-bazaar,” he said in a talk show with Amanah Youth vice-chief Shazni Munir Mohd Ithnin on Facebook last night.
Amirudin said the mechanism in place will be based on the aspects of logistics, such as the location where the food or items will be put together and the mode of delivery.
“Right now we have Grab, FoodPanda, and Bungkusit, for example, but we are figuring out on how to have a centralised kitchen to ensure the food quality remains intact as well as the delivery method to the customers.
“The local authorities will coordinate the hawkers and small traders and only allow a small number of them to participate,” he said, adding that the initiative would be able to assist over 16,000 hawkers and petty traders earn an income following the nationwide cancellation of Ramadan bazaar.
“Usually during Ramadan, some of them would take the opportunity to earn extra income by selling Raya clothing, food and other essentials to prepare the festive season. The cancellation of the bazaar surely has an impact on them,” he said.
Yesterday, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said any form of Ramadan bazaar that would involve the gathering of people are not allowed across Malaysia.
He said this includes e-bazaars that would operate from a centralised kitchen or provide drive-thru and takeaway services.
On April 8, the Selangor government, in collaboration with Grab Malaysia, had introduced the E-Bazar Ramadan Selangor Grab digital platform that allows small businesses to run during the fasting month.
Using the Grab application, the concept of the online bazaar allows customers to order their food online. A total of 15 locations in the state have been identified to be used as a central kitchen.
