Fomca: Let eateries choose clean-up time

There's no need for MBPJ to fix a standard daily period, says the consumer group.

Starting tomorrow, 24-hour restaurants in Petaling Jaya will be required to close for clean-up from 1am to 3am. (Reuters pic)

PETALING JAYA: The Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations (Fomca) has urged the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to allow restaurants to choose the time period for the daily cleaning of their premises.

Fomca vice-president Yusof Abdul Rahman told FMT he saw no reason for the council to fix a time for all 24-hour restaurants to close for the clean-up.

“The owners know better than anyone else how their restaurants operate,” he said. “Each knows the best time for doing his clean-up. So there’s no need to set a standard time for all restaurants.”

There are 98 24-hour restaurants in Petaling Jaya. MBPJ’s order, which comes into effect tomorrow, requires them to close for the clean-up for two hours from 1am.

Petaling Jaya Mayor Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain recently said the council feared the restaurants would not do the cleaning if they were allowed to pick their own time.

But Yusof said some restaurants would still be receiving many customers between 1am and 3am.

“Customers might not be happy because it would be hard for them to find alternative food outlets at that hour,” he said. “So it’s better to let the restaurants decide the timing for themselves.”

He said it should not matter when the mandatory clean-up was carried out and how much time it took as long as all the restaurants complied with the order.

Small restaurants might need only an hour, he added.

Indian Muslim Restaurant Operators Association president Ayub Khan said the timing would be a problem for members of his group because they would still have customers at 1am.

“Our preferred time is around 4am to 6am when we don’t have many customers,” he said. “We can easily do the clean-up then.

“Even before this order, we have been cleaning up our restaurants around that hour.” - FMT