KOTA KINABALU: Sabah coffeeshops which opened for the first day of dine-ins on Tuesday (June 29) morning have switched back to take-aways after only about an hour or two following warnings from enforcement officers.

       Many owners and operators were caught off guard when enforcement officers told them that the take-away only standard operating procedure (SOP) was still enforced despite the state government's decision to allow dine-ins from Tuesday.

       "I had opened up at 7am and served customers already. The police came and told me that we should stop dine-ins immediately. They explained that the SOPs for no dine-ins were still in place," said a coffeeshop operator in the Damai area who declined to be named.

       Many coffeeshop owners and restaurant operators across the state capital began to pull back their chairs and dining tables as word began to spread that dine-ins were still not allowed until new SOPs were announced.

       Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor had announced on Monday (June 28)that Sabah will allow dine-ins from Tuesday as part of the first phase of the national recovery plan.

       "It is very confusing, I just closed because we are not sure," said a coffeeshop operator who declined to be named.

       When asked about the current confusion, Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali said there were no compounds issued to coffeeshops that has opened for dine-ins on Tuesday.

       However, he said that they will wait for the National Security Council's SOP guidelines.

       "For now, we will follow the Chief Minister's announcement," he said without wanting to add if dine-ins were allowed or not allowed for coffeeshops.

       Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin urged the authorities to immediately clarify the position on dine-ins for coffeeshops.

       "I've received complaints from coffeeshop operators and hawkers near Damai, Lintas and Foh Sang that they have been warned by Health Ministry enforcement officers not to set up tables for dine-in purposes or they would issued with a compound notice as the SOPs were not ready yet," he said.

       In the absence of a new SOP, he said that doesn’t mean that the Chief Minister's announcement should be ignored as the previous SOP on dine-ins should automatically apply in the meantime.

       "There seems to be some confusion all over," he said.