Unanimous Call Against Total Lockdown In Malaysia, But Stricter Sops, Faster Vaccination

KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 (Bernama) -- Having felt the brunt of a total lockdown last year, associations and a federation across various businesses in Malaysia are making a unanimous call to the government against a total lockdown but stricter standard operation procedures (SOPs) in place to curb the latest wave of COVID-19 infections.  Malaysia recorded the highest single daily tally of 6,075, spiking total active cases to 47,340, spurring calls for a total lockdown in the country, especially in Selangor. The SME Association of Malaysia said a complete lockdown would have a significant impact on the country's economic recovery as around 40 per cent of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were already suffering and 37.7 per cent would close down their business operations for good. Citing a survey conducted by the association, its national president, Datuk Michael Kang said: ”If the same type of measures that were enacted during MCO1.0 are exacted in MCO3.0, more than 40 per cent of SMEs will be in dire financial straits and two million jobs will be lost.” Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MICCI) national president Datuk Tan Cheng Kiat said experience and lessons learnt from MCO1.0 showed that even though the curve did flattened, the devastation to the economy was almost irreversible. Unclear ambiguous SOPs and arbitrary enforcement have taken a toll on businesses, he stressed. “Businesses do not have an on-off switch. Lack of consultation with the industry is the bane of all businesses. Cash handouts while businesses are not allowed to operate are unsustainable as there are no revenue streams from economic activities for these handouts,” he warned. Malaysian Automotive Component Parts Manufacturers Association (MACPMA) president Peter Lim said a shutdown of four weeks as experienced during MCO 1.0 last year had resulted in a RM1.15 billion loss from export sales alone. “As such, we cannot afford another total lockdown,” he said in a statement. The industry currently employs about 250,000 workers, including professionals such as engineers, designers and data analysts. “About 70 per cent of our members are SMEs and more than 30 per cent are exporters. “Our exporters need to continue operations as the repercussion of a total shutdown of operations would have very damaging effects on businesses, as well as the economy. Many automotive parts manufacturers are dependent on export business,” he said. Malaysia supplies automotive component parts to all over the world and is part of the global automotive supply chain. The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) also urged the government not to institute any form of total lockdown be it a nationwide or for states with high infection rates such as Selangor. "Continue with the MCO 2.0 model to allow the economic sectors to operate but institute stricter SOPs to bring down the infection rates quickly," its president, Tan Sri Datuk Soh Thian Lai said. He also suggested stricter restrictions on mobility and stay-at-home orders; reschedule of work shifts in plants by having less people in operations based on individual company assessment; and full work-from-home (WFH) practice for companies that are able to and have the necessary support facilities to do so. "Continue with the necessary aid, including financial aid such as the loan moratorium, wage subsidy programme, financing assistance, reduction in business cost such as utility costs, statutory contributions, financing rates, etc to assist industries that continue to be seriously impacted by MCO 3.0 and COVID-19." Soh also called on the government to accelerate the pace of the immunisation programme, including expediting the programme for the economic sectors to achieve faster herd immunity.  Echoing the FMM, the Chemical Industries Council of Malaysia (CICM) also called on the government to speed up the vaccination process for the general public and implementation of the national immunisation programme for the economic sector to achieve herd immunity. It also proposed that companies that are labour intensive and with work conditions below the one-metre safe distancing should conduct swab test on employees every two weeks before allowing them to enter premises. The Association of Malaysian Medical Industries (AMMI), on the other hand, said it looks towards the government for priority to be given to all stakeholders in the hospital ecosystem for vaccination, including clinical representatives and technicians within the medical device industry workforce and other essential workers in the medical device manufacturing supply chain. It believes that with the strong collaboration between the government and the private sector, the country will be able to persevere through the crisis. -- BERNAMA