KOTA KINABALU: Some coffee shops have begun opening for dine-in here amid a lingering question of whether the SOP submitted by the state has been approved by the Federal Government.

       Coffee shop operators, who allowed dine-in, flashed a smile to customers who asked if it was okay to sit amid an atmosphere of uncertainty and possible legal “challenge”.

       There remains an “official silence” over Sabah’s decision to allow dine-in from June 29 with some operators believing that they could restart dine-in as the state had been given the green light and others saying they would wait for official word.

       However, most operators stuck with “take-away” only.

       Some political sources said they might take up a legal challenge if summonses were issued against operators allowing dine-in.

       “It could be a test case, we could go right up to the Federal Court,” the source said, adding that at the most, they might have to pay a maximum fine of RM10,000 if they were issued a summons.

       However, they are waiting to see if the Federal Government approves the Sabah government’s application for the new SOP that was unanimously approved by the Sabah Covid-19 Disaster Management committee prior to Monday’s announcement.

       Though Sabah approved the new SOP, sources explained that the “paperwork” was not submitted to the Federal Government for a decision.

       “To be fair to Defence Minister (Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob), he was unaware of the Sabah decision when he responded to the media telling states not to make their own rules on SOP.

       “The problem was the paperwork was not sent in to the Federal Government,” sources close to the state government said.

       The source said the issue turned political with Sabah leaders across the political spectrum came out in support of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor as many saw it as Putrajaya infringing on state rights.

       “We will now have to see if the SOP is approved or not today or in the next few days,” the source said.

       For now, some people have been posting pictures of them on social media and voicing their support for Hajiji.

       Amid the controversy on Tuesday, Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said on Wednesday that they were awaiting the Federal Government gazette on the new SOP to roll out plans to ease restriction on several sectors of the economy under the National Recovery Plan – Phase One for the state.

       State Secreatry Datuk Safar Untong is also expected to issue a separate statement with more details on Sabah’s SOP soon.