Better leadership needed when announcing MCO, says think tank

 

Tricia Yeoh says that there have been announcements that were conflicting, leading to quick reversals of some of the rulings.

PETALING JAYA: A think tank has called for better leadership and coordination between ministries following the series of last-minute announcements made on movement restrictions.

The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) said there seemed to be a lack of leadership in decision-making, whereby announcements on the movement control order are being made at will.

In some instances, previously announced measures are quickly reversed, its CEO Tricia Yeoh said in a statement.

“There also needs to be better coordination between the ministries, as some announcements over the MCO often seem to be conflicting.”

Such last minute decisions, she said, were detrimental to the planning of businesses.

Business owners including retailers and small and medium-sized enterprises needed to prepare in advance their logistics, human resources and cashflows.

Yeoh said that if better planning had been done, business leaders could set their expectations better.

“Predictability is key for economic recovery, which the country desperately needs today.”

She said that more transparency in how the government makes its decisions will increase public trust, which at the moment “remains low”.

She went on to cite the implementation of the Hotspot Identification by Dynamic Engagement system as an example, saying there was little communication regarding this initiative to the public.

“Although it is positive that data is being used to guide public decisions, we would recommend better public education of such programmes and decision-making processes.” - FMT