The Malaysian Insight

NIGHTCLUBS and pubs have been operating, despite not being allowed to under movement control restrictions, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

“To my knowledge they (nightclubs and pubs) are still operating on a daily basis although they are not supposed to. 

“I have requested for local authorities to revoke the licence of the owners if they are still refusing to cooperate.

“The licence should be taken away for good and not as a penalty,” he said today during the daily briefing on Covid-19 movement restrictions.

Pubs and night entertainment outlets have not been allowed to operate since the movement-control order (MCO) was first imposed nationwide in mid-March. They remain among the few economic sectors still not allowed to operate even under the conditional MCO and recovery MCO.

Compounds issued daily for movement-control violations still include a number of those who had attended nightclubs and pubs, based on Ismail Sabri’s daily press statements.

Ismail Sabri said trends in enforcement work on the Covid-19 standard operating procedure (SOP) showed that the number of violators was on the increase, especially involving night clubs, entertainment centres and pubs.

“Arrests involving entertainment centres occur almost every day despite reminders and warnings.

“On December 12, the highest number of arrests related to entertainment centres was made involving 292 individuals,” he said. – December 15, 2020.