The SME Association of Malaysia has been roped in to assist the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) to verify the application of the enterprises which applied to continue operations during the movement control order (MCO).
Its president Michael Kang (above) believes cooperation between the public and private sector will expedite the approval process.
"More than 5,000 applications have been approved. We have some 200 applications to go, I believe this can be completed early next week," he told Malaysiakini.
The association was roped in to help the government due to its knowledge of SMEs and that it understood the background of its members.
It was also reported that the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), which represents over 3,000 manufacturing and industrial service companies, assisted Miti in the approval process.
The SME Association has more than 10,000 enterprises and business association members and most of them are involved in the production of food, essential goods and supporting industries to the essential services.
Kang said the online system set up by Miti for businesses seeking approval was clogged up in part by firms that were not involved in providing essential services.
"This is quite disturbing for Miti officers who work 24/7, but also slows down the approval process for those who work in the essential services, which may ultimately lead to a disruption of the food supply.
"Some of the applicants also failed to provide comprehensive details and documents," he said.
He urged the business community not to apply for permission to operate during the MCO period if they are not involved in essential services or supporting industries for essential services.
Supporting industries next
Moving forward, Kang said his association will work towards helping supporting industries to operate upon receiving a list of essential services operators detailing the companies that support their industries.
Kang also clarified some of the confusion faced by business operators was that only the operators who were involved in production and manufacturing lines applied for approval from Miti though operators of distribution lines had to go to the Domestic Trade and Consumerism Ministry.
The government imposed the MCO to stem the spread of Covid-19 infections.
During this period, essential services operators and their supporting industry operators need to apply for approval to operate.
Employers are required to provide official letters, or movement permits, for employees to facilitate their movement in the event that they are stopped by enforcement authorities during the restricted period.
The ministry set March 24 as the deadline for companies to apply for approval.
For a time, Miti's website was not accessible and it had to rely on social media to get the word out.
There was also complaints from operators that they could not get through Miti's hotlines. The ministry has since apologised, explaining that it was handling 700 calls daily.
Please take note that due to high traffic rate, our website is inaccessible at the moment. Factory owners wishing to apply for approval to resume their operation can fill up Lampiran C and submit via email to covid19.mfg@miti.gov.my we
We apologise for any inconveniences caused. twitter.com/MITIMalaysia/s…
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-Mkini
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