GEORGE TOWN, April 10 — Although there won’t be physical Ramadan Bazaars during the fasting month that will start on April 24, Muslims however can now pre-order their favourite food online.
Penang Island City Council (MBPP) Mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang said some Ramadan Bazaar sellers have signed up with the city council’s Jom Beli Online (JBO) @ MBPP platform for online food delivery.
“Consumers can pre-order the food from any of the Ramadan Bazaar hawkers on the platform and the food will be delivered from April 24 onwards,” he said during a joint press conference with state exco Jagdeep Singh Deo and Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP) Mayor Datuk Rozali Mohamud.
He said the security of food items ordered on JBO is also assured as it is compulsory for the hawkers to seal each food package with a MBPP label.
He said there were concerns that the food could be tampered with before it was delivered.
“With the MBPP security seal, customers will know that the food was not tampered with before it was delivered to them and if the label is broken when they receive the food, they can reject it,” he said.
He said this will give customers peace of mind that the food they ordered was not tampered with.
There are now about 112 hawkers from MBPP hawker centres that have signed up on the JBO.
“We have about 1,483 Ramadan Bazaar sellers and all of them will be invited to join this online platform so that their income is not affected,” he said.
On the mainland side, Rozali said they are also creating a special portal, eBazaar Ramadan, to collate all websites, Facebook pages and WhatsApp groups of all Ramadan Bazaar hawkers.
“It is an e-catalogue that will list out all the sellers, such as their websites, Facebook page or WhatsApp numbers,” he said.
He said the portal will directly link customers to the respective seller’s webpage, Facebook page or those without these online platforms, direct to their WhatsApp groups or numbers.
“This will not only feature those selling food but also sundry items, clothes, shoes, Raya cookies and other Hari Raya items,” he said.
He said the platform will be available for registration on April 16 and all Ramadan Bazaar entrepreneurs are invited to sign up with the portal.
He said there are 42 Ramadan Bazaars consisting of 3,207 registered hawkers on the mainland that can benefit from the portal.
