Jonathan Chai
KUCHING: It is hoped that the Sarawak government would continue to provide assistance to the people in view of the Covid-19 situation in the state, which has now entered the fourth wave.
In stating this, Sarawak Business Federation (SBF) secretary-general Jonathan Chai said with the re-imposition of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) all over Sarawak – except Sibu, which is under MCO – it would be quite challenging for many businesses here, especially the small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and the micro-traders such as the hawkers and the petty traders.
“Some businesses had just begun to recover during the Recovery MCO (RMCO) period, but with the imposition of CMCO due to sudden spikes in the number of positive Covid-19 cases, the situation is becoming worse,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Chai pointed out that many businesses continued to incur losses as more people were staying at or working from home these days.
“If you go to any food court in town, you’d probably notice that a lot of stalls are not operating.
“The hawkers would rather close the stalls to avoid more losses, since the incomes generated during these times could barely cover the overheads,” he said, adding that it was the same scenario in shopping malls – many of which were experiencing downturns of at least 50 per cent.
“Those (malls) associated with Covid-19 cases are worse off.
“Of course, restaurants and those (industries) under the tourism sector are among the hardest hit.”
Reiterating his hope for the state government to continue helping the people, Chai said it could assist by providing discounts on assessment rates and utilities bills for a longer period of time.
“If possible, they (state government) could consider giving cash handout to every Sarawakian as a way to stimulate local consumption, which could trigger a huge spinoff to the local economy,” he said.
Chai also appealed to the federal government to consider providing immediate relief measures for businesses to mitigate the impact from the second MCO, meant to curb the spread of Covid-19.
“I hope that the government would reintroduce the Wage Subsidy Programme to help the SMEs, and also provide a one-off financial grant to small-time traders and micro-SMEs to offset their cash flow problems,” he said.