The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) today pleaded with members to stem the spread of Covid-19, warning that a second full lockdown will cause "irreparable damage" to businesses and the economy.
"It is therefore very crucial for the industry to give its fullest cooperation and play its part by taking the additional proactive and preventive measures to tighten the existing standard operating procedures (SOPs) at the workplace and living quarters of employees," said FMM president Soh Thian Lai.
FMM was at the same briefing by the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) on Friday that was attended by the EU Chambers of Commerce (Eurocham).
A leaked Eurochams internal newsletter to members had claimed that the government was mulling a "full shutdown" of the economy once the current movement control order (MCO) expires on Feb 4 should the number of Covid-19 cases increase.
According to Soh, the latest update by the authorities had claimed that out of 318 active Covid-19 clusters in the country, 99 or 30 percent are from the manufacturing sector.
In view of this, he said the FMM had issued another reminder to members to comply with housing guidelines, conduct mass Covid-19 screening, reduce worker bus capacity to 50 percent or below, appointing a senior manager to handle SOP compliance, isolate suspected Covid-19 cases and reducing staff travel.
Meanwhile, Soh said FMM is also appealing to the government for help in subsidising RTK-antigen test kits, standardising the price of RTK-antigen and RTK-PCR tests nationwide and ensuring sufficient test facilities to cope with the volume of tests that needs to be carried out.
The FMM has also recommended that the government provide a transparent and comprehensive national Covid-19 vaccination plan.
"An early announcement of the national vaccination programme and the prioritised groups is critical towards the industries’ business continuity plans.
"It must be recognised that as long as the pandemic pervades, the growth and investments by the private sector will remain subdued and the economic recovery will continue to be sluggish," he added. - Mkini
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