WHILE it may be a dreaded decision for the Government to implement a total lockdown, it is understandable that the extreme measure is definitely needed at this point in time.
However, in order to ensure the continuity of the country’s economic sectors once businesses are allowed to resume, the Government needs to allocate more assistance to various parties, especially the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to help them get through the tough times of halted operations.
On this, the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman said that similar to the first movement control order (MCO 1.0), this lockdown will be very difficult for most employers, especially the micro enterprises that are mainly not within the essential economic and service sector category
“With losses expected to reach billions of Ringgit on a daily basis, the Government needs to introduce more stimulus packages including wage subsidies and financial assistance to businesses and individuals to sustain themselves during this challenging period of time,” he commented.
Hussain added that automatic loan moratoriums should also be reintroduced so that businesses and individuals can survive.
Echoing this sentiment, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) youth secretary Gandipan Nantha Gopalan urges the Government to bring back the automatic loan moratoriums for the sake of the B40 and M40 community as it will help the micro business and SMEs to get through the lockdown period.
“Which side will the Government prioritise on: the profitability of the banks or the welfare of the people? The choice is in their (the Government) hands,” he said.
Gandipan also believes that the Government should implement a rental moratorium period throughout the duration of the lockdown.
He also suggests for the Government to focus on providing jobs to unemployed youths as government social workers to be spread out to certain rural areas, ensuring that the Government assistance would reach those in need.
“A new set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and a list of the economic and services sectors that are being allowed to operate should be announced and expedited so that the rakyat can prepare themselves for this round of lockdown. The Government should know better than to repeat the same mistakes all over again that would potentially burden the people,” he concluded. – May 29, 2021
