PETALING JAYA: The new government must use science, data and lessons learnt in the war against Covid-19 to achieve results as merely “trying” is no longer an option, says former prime minister Najib Razak.
In a Facebook post, Najib, who had previously called for a short but strict lockdown, said he wanted the new government to put the people, not cronies or factory tycoons, first.
“This is not the time to say that they will try or work harder to achieve things. The priority is to achieve targets and not keep saying ‘we have tried our best’ after repeatedly failing.
“Or keep repeating that ‘we have not failed but have yet to succeed’,” he said.
Najib also said Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration must prioritise the handling of Covid-19, as the people can longer stomach the high number of deaths and increasing number of new infections.
“We need to solve the crisis as soon as possible,” said Najib, adding 103 days have passed since the start of the third movement control order but the Covid-19 situation continued to worsen.
On top of record numbers of cases, Malaysia also has among the world’s worst rates for new cases and deaths per population. There are currently more than 260,000 active cases.
The economy, Najib said, had also taken a beating. Gross domestic product growth projections have been slashed by the government and other financial institutions, while Malaysia’s stock market is the second-worst performing in the world.
“These are facts and reality. They’re not made up.”
He added the Covid-19 situation was so bad that despite the easing of restrictions, many were afraid to step out of their homes and those who have to go out for work are at risk of infection.
Businesses and small traders, Najib said, are running out of money.
“We cannot go on like this. To revive the economy, we need to control Covid-19. For people to survive, we need to help them. There are solutions,” he said. - FMT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.