Rayner Longtin’s stall at Jalan Sulaman which offered barbecued wild boar.
KOTA KINABALU: After three business operators in Kelantan were slapped with RM50,000 compound, an operator of a stall selling ‘sinalau bakas’ (barbecued wild boar) in Sabah suffered a similar fate.
The operator running a stall at Jalan Sulaman on April 26, Rayner Longtin, 32, said a team of police personnel came at 10pm when he had shuttered his stall.
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“All our merchandise have already been placed inside the store, including the QR MySejahtera code, temperature check device and attendance book.
“At that time, there were still a few customers in the stall but they have registered before they ate there. At the same time, two of my friends came to the stall to send me home.
“My two friends were waiting for me to send me home and I didn’t leave because there were still customers dining at the stall,” he explained to an online portal.
Rayner said that suddenly, the police arrived and asked him to show the MySejahtera card, the temperature device and attendance book.
“I followed (their order) because they are the authorities. I also don’t know why they asked me to do that because my stall was already closed.
“They then proceeded to issue a compound of RM50,000 to me and RM10,000 to each of my two friends who wanted to send me home.”
Rayner said that the five to six customers who were dining were not compounded because they have scanned the QR code.
Nevertheless, he questioned the rationale of issuing the high compound.
“Should they have done that without discretion? Where can I find RM50,000 and my two friends to each find RM10,000 at a short time?
“We can barely make a living. The stall is our only source of income,” he said.
Rayner said that he is grateful if there is someone who can help them to reduce the compound and pay for it.
“I hope this doesn’t happen to other operators especially small business owners like us. RM50,000 is not a small amount. If one is not able to control, one might just commit suicide
.
“Even RM500 is high enough for me. What more with RM50,000 and RM10,000. During this pandemic era, even finding food is difficult enough.”
Recently, a burger seller, a ‘colek’ seller and a sundry shop owner in Kelantan were slapped with a RM50,000 compound each.
They can now breathe a sigh of relief after learning the fine would be reduced.
Kelantan police chief Datuk Shafien Mamat, in a statement on Thursday said the decision to reduce the fine was reached after discussions between police and the Kelantan health department on Wednesday.
He said Kelantan police will take action according to the guidelines on compound discount set under Act 342, or the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988.
He said the state health department had the power to offer a reduced rate for the compound as outlined in the guidelines.