The Selangor government has decided to disallow all Ramadan bazaars in the state later this month in an effort to curb the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, said Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.

However, he said, the decision could be reversed subject to the views and advice of the Ministry of Health (MoH) Malaysia.

“The state government had a meeting (on this matter) only just now and the State Secretary will issue a directive later. We will postpone or cancel the bazaar until the time is right, and this is when the MoH and the State Health Department decided it is possible to do so.

“But for now, we are deferring any implementation of the bazaar. And this has been discussed online with the heads of the local authorities, who have made such suggestion to me,” he said after announcing the RM272 million Selangor Prihatin Economic Stimulation Package 2.0 of RM272 million today.

The Sungai Tua state assemblyman said that in order to ensure that food sales remained vibrant throughout the month of Ramadan, the state government would look into efforts to establish Ramadan bazaars online.

Earlier, Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa was reported to have said no decision had been made on Ramadan bazaars in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.

The Ketereh MP said his ministry had given local authorities in the Federal Territory a few days for their suggestions.