Govt Clarifies Informal Sector, Churches Exemptions
According to Statutory Instrument 136 which was gazetted on Friday, the informal sector and churches are now permitted to resume activities but on set conditions.
Under the recently gazetted amendments, informal traders that are licensed by a local authority as a hawker or vendor or who rent space in a flea market or people’s market, or are registered but work from home can now reopen their business under the same conditions as a formal business but have to be able to prove this if asked.
Churches have also been allowed to hold services but should have congregations of less than 50 people.
However, everyone in the church has to wear a mask and observe social distancing and the church has to be disinfected between sittings.
The amended regulations state that an informal trader includes a hawker or street vendor; a person who sells articles at a place commonly known as a “people’s market” or “flea market”; and a person who manufactures or processes any articles in or from residential premises.
Meanwhile, small-scale miners, the operators of a taxicab, commuter omnibus or goods vehicle, informal cross-border traders, operators of a restaurant or bottle store, and cottage industry operators are not yet exempted from the lockdown.
