Business sector prefers TEMCO to MCO for curbing Covid-19 outbreak

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Mohd Ariffin Abdullah (left) and Datu Abang Helmi Ikhwan.

KUCHING: Business associations in Sarawak are in support of the state government’s strategy of enforcing Targeted-Enhanced Movement Control Order (TEMCO) instead of a full MCO to contain the Covid-19 outbreak locally.

In voicing their support, Sarawak Traders and Hawkers Association president Mohd Ariffin Abdullah said he personally welcomed the announcement by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg regarding the state’s strategy in bringing the Covid-19 situation under control.

“Full MCO may seem to be an appropriate solution but one should consider the difficulty of the many citizens, some of whom may hardly have the ability to put food on the table, especially the most affected group like the small hawkers and traders,” said Mohd Ariffin when sharing his personal views with The Borneo Post.

Mohd Ariffin remarked he fully understood the Covid-19 situation in the state was deteriorating from bad to worse but he opined implementing TEMCO at a specific area of outbreak, instead of a full MCO, is a preferable approach.

Meanwhile, Sarawak Chamber of Bumiputera Entrepreneurs (DUBS) president Datu Abang Helmi Ikhwan agreed that enforcing TEMCO would be the most appropriate approach to deal with the current surge in Covid-19 cases in the state.

“This applies to specific areas and it should not cause much disruption to business activities as well as the economy. Such strict enforcement in critical specific areas would be necessary to curb the pandemic,” Abang Helmi said in his brief reply to The Borneo Post.

The Chief Minister had recently said the state government’s preference for TEMCO, instead of a strict MCO, was arrived at after factoring all the concerns and risk assessment as well as studying the effectiveness of MCO that was previously enforced in Sibu.