This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 27, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: CapitaLand Malaysia Mall Trust (CMMT) will provide a 14-day rental waiver to tenants who provide non-essential services across all seven CapitaLand malls amid the movement control order (MCO), the trust said yesterday.

The latest measure by CapitaLand and CMMT aims to provide immediate cost and cash flow relief to the affected tenants, it said in a statement.

“The health and well-being of our community is our topmost priority and we are supportive of the Malaysian government’s MCO initiative to curb the spread of Covid-19,” said CapitaLand Malaysia retail management general manager Fern Tan.

“As a show of solidarity with affected tenants, we will waive rentals to affected tenants from March 18 to 31, 2020 to partly minimise the impact of the order. We will continue to engage our tenants and monitor the situation closely.

“To ensure the safety of our shoppers, tenants, and employees, we will continue to adopt precautionary measures in our malls,” she said.

Meanwhile, Low Peck Chen, chief executive officer of CapitaLand Malaysia Mall REIT Management Sdn Bhd, the manager of CMMT, said the trust is closely monitoring the situation and weighing the available options to assist its tenants during this period of uncertainty.

“We want to assure our affected tenants that we take this journey with them through this difficult period and the rental waiver is our way of supporting them by providing immediate relief,” Low said.

During the MCO, CapitaLand malls remain accessible to the public in support of the essential services tenants.

These tenants are also offered the flexibility to operate from no later than 11am and close no earlier than 8pm.

In accordance with the health authorities’ guidelines, precautionary measures such as temperature checks and stepped-up cleaning and disinfecting of common areas have also been adopted, CMMT said.