Abim: Curbs likely to last longer, huge relief package needed

 

The Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) has urged the government to do more for the public in view of the increasing likelihood that the lockdown period will be extended.

In a statement today, Abim president Muhammad Faisal Abdul Aziz said as the prospect of meeting vaccination targets dims, there are various indicators that the economic toll on the population was worsening.

He said the Malaysian Youth Council's recent dialogue with the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) also revealed that there are 200,000 EPF members without any savings in the fund and 6.24 million under the age of 55 who have less than RM10,000 in their Account 1.

In view of this, Faisal (above) urged the government to take responsibility for imposing lockdown restrictions and announce a "huge" relief package for the B40 and M40 group.

"This includes an automatic bank repayment moratorium akin to that implemented during the first movement control order," he said.

Abim also urged the government to find alternatives to overcome problems in vaccine procurement.

"Blaming others without a solution will not help Malaysians who are currently suffering," said Faisal.

Faisal said as the government had pledged to spend RM5 billion in public funds on the vaccination programme, transparency and accountability were required.

He also urged the government to be more inclusive in the planning of the Covid-19 response, since daily Covid-19 new cases were still not under control.

During the week prior to the start of "total lockdown", the seven-day average for new daily Covid-19 cases was 7,680. The average over the past seven days was 5,350.

Putrajaya is expected to announce a new stimulus package soon. - Mkini