LABUAN: The Labuan Entertainment Centre Owners Association today re-appealed to the Federal Government to allow its members to resume operations during the extended Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), saying their debt load is piling up after incurring losses for six months.
It said as the three states of Johor, Sabah and Sarawak have allowed night entertainment outlets to resume operations, Labuan, which partly relies on revenue through foreign visits (to boost local economies) and is already a Covid-19 green zone, should also follow suit.
Its president Surjit Singh
(pic) said as the government is enforcing safety measure for Malaysia in view of the worrying Covid-19 pandemic, the local economy, especially in Labuan, must also be taken into account.
“Labuan’s economy is partly contributed by the oil and gas-related sectors with crews coming in and out of the island either for work or leisure.
“As these crews especially foreign nationals are on standby duty, they will usually be in town for several days (staying in hotels) and will certainly be patronising entertainment outlets for leisure and having meals in the local eateries…we can say this will have an economic spillover to the local economy,” he told Bernama Tuesday.
He said permission for the resumption of operations would greatly help the entertainment business on the duty-free island to stay afloat during these trying times.
“We are planning to meet with the Minister of Federal Territories if given the opportunity during his visit to Labuan on Sept 3 to explain our predicament,” he said.
“In the interest of the local economy, we strongly hope the Labuan Health Department and Labuan National Security Council (MKN) can assist us in our appeal to give appropriate recommendations to the Federal Government for us to resume our business operations,” he said.
Bernama reported earlier that at least 29 entertainment outlets and sports bars (including karaoke outlets) on the island are at risk of closure, the latest by October, after the owners have incurred losses to the tune of RM6 million since the start of the Movement Control Order (MCO) on March 18.
The losses—attributed in part to payments for monthly staff salaries, business premises monthly rentals, power supply, suppliers and overhead costs—lead to concerns over the bleak future of the local entertainment industry.
.jpg)
