PETALING JAYA: The government’s decision of striking a delicate balance between saving lives and livelihoods veered towards the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) for most parts of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur from Jul 3-16 – excluding the essential economic and services sectors – following the alarming rise in the daily recorded number of Covid-19 cases in those areas.
“The imposition of EMCO for most parts of Selangor and KL will be challenging for both employers and employees but it was a necessary step to flatten the rising trend of Covid-19 daily infections,” said MEF President Dato’ Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman J.P. today.
“However, the NSC (National Security Council) could have planned this better considering that Selangor and KL are the largest populated areas which contribute 40 per cent to the national GDP.
“The number of new daily infections were large from the beginning and it should have been addressed much sooner with stronger controls like EMCO.
“To add another two weeks of lockdown under EMCO after four weeks of lockdown during the FMCO (Full Movement Control Order) is too much for employers to absorb.
“Many more employers especially the SMEs and micro enterprises that are not normally within the essential economic and services sectors category will close and the suffering will increase.
“Without any revenue during the lockdown, it would be extremely challenging for them to remain in business.”
He said that the employers were given such short notice that it was not feasible to ‘switch on-and-off’ abruptly as there were many logistical aspects that require planning before shutdown.
“The ad hoc changes from FMCO to EMCO will create much pain to employers.
“Only employers or people in the trade will understand such requirements and MEF had many times requested for industry to be involved in discussions at the National Security Council (NSC) as the decisions affect them.
“The success of any plan can only happen if the stakeholders are involved. Execution is the mother of success.
“Let’s all learn from this and in moving forward, proper planning and execution must be fully thought through before execution.”
Dato’ Syed Hussain also hoped that the facilities for moratorium on loans would not be disrupted during the EMCO period in KL and Selangor.
“Even before companies can reach out for help on the recently announced PEMULIH programme, they are now subject to EMCO,” he said.
“We hope that the banks will continue to approve the moratorium for those who require it because employers, employees and the rakyat cannot afford to wait much longer.
“We propose to the Ministry of Finance and Bank Negara that the moratorium on loans be made automatic instead of by application, and that there should be no interest charges or other charges associated with it.”
He said apart from the EMCO, there was a need to intensify and speed up screening and vaccination in Selangor and KL with all government agencies and private sector facilities being mobilised.
“What is needed is fast execution in screening and giving vaccination and enhance the utilisation of all resources in government and in the private sector to achieve the desired target in Selangor and KL quickly,” he said.
“With mass screening , vaccination and more disciplined self-regulation, the nation will overcome the Covid-19 pandemic.”
For further information, contact the MEF Secretariat at 03-7955-7778 or fax 03-7955-9008 or email mef-hq@mef.org.my.
2 JULY 2021