Economist tells why easing MCO is important, especially for poor, rural folk

The government says certain economic and social activities, like eating in at restaurants, will be allowed from Monday.

PETALING JAYA: An economist has welcomed the conditional movement control order (CMCO), saying restrictions on business and travelling have taken a toll on the people, especially the poor and those living in rural areas.

Academy of Sciences Malaysia fellow Madeline Berma said it was difficult for people in rural areas to even access essential services like banks, which were not always nearby.

She said while there were genuine health concerns with easing the MCO, production and consumption had come to a standstill, resulting in the incomes of businesses and employees taking a major hit, with many either taking pay cuts or retrenched.

“The MCO and various stimulus packages have addressed health and economic concerns to a certain extent, and while we have not truly flattened the curve as there are new Covid-19 cases every day, restricting the economy will affect the wellbeing of the people.

“You cannot see this in isolation. There is a strong link between health and the economy. The government also cannot afford to keep giving handouts, so it is important to ease the MCO,” she told FMT.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the government would enforce the CMCO, which will see certain economic and social activities being allowed from Monday.

But Madeline voiced concern that the easing of the MCO was being done all at once rather than in stages.

Academy of Sciences Malaysia fellow Madeline Berma.

She believed that the green zones should be opened up first, followed by the yellow zones and then the red zones.

“I believe the government’s dilemma is that the green zones are mostly rural areas and the economic centres are in the red zones,” she said.

Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Melayu (MTEM) chief executive Ahmad Yazid Othman said it was necessary to ease the MCO and hoped that the self-employed who had been suffering due to the lockdown would be able to earn some income.

An April survey by the Statistics Department found that nearly half of the self-employed had lost their jobs under the MCO, with 43% not having enough money to last beyond two weeks.

“But how it’s done will be critical as we don’t want to create a situation that will force another lockdown,” Ahmad Yazid told FMT.

He said that aid under the stimulus package was insufficient and that they had received many complaints, especially from Bumiputera and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), that aid was not reaching them in a timely manner.

Denison Jayasooria, a former professor in public advocacy at the Institute of Ethnic Studies in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, welcomed the CMCO as restrictions had impacted the income of many people.

“This is especially a welcome change for the daily wage earners, domestic workers and small-time micro businesses selling cakes and food,” he said.

Denison said that while self-discipline was important, more advice and guidance from the government was necessary.

“More information must be shared on television and radio on how people need to manage the new normal, while enforcement authorities must be more compassionate in maintaining order,” he said.

He also called for greater transparency in the distribution of food, and bi-partisan cooperation and dialogue in charting post-Covid-19 economic development.

Meanwhile, the secretary-general of the Malaysian Association of Malay Hawkers and Small Businessmen, Mohamed Zamri Mohammed, said although the CMCO would not apply to hawkers without permanent premises, it would still help many people.

“We are happy as many hawkers and traders have run out of savings by now,” he said, adding that though the MCO was being eased, it was still subject to standard operating procedures like social distancing. - FMT