Labuan businessmen wary of reopening too quickly

 

Labuan has achieved herd immunity with 80% of its adult population vaccinated. (Bernama pic)

KOTA KINABALU: Labuan’s business community is hoping that more economic activities will be allowed now that the island has become the first among states and federal territories to achieve herd immunity.

At the same time, they are cautious about reopening too quickly, fearing that this may cause infections to spiral out of control again.

Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin yesterday asked why the government had not allowed more economic activities to reopen in Labuan considering that about 80% of its adult population had now been vaccinated.

The Sabah DAP secretary also told the government to reconsider its decision to bar all foreign vessels from Labuan port, pointing out that Port Klang had not ceased operations since the first lockdown.

Businessman Peter Mak said achieving herd immunity was good but added that this did not mean cases would not escalate again.

“While we are the first to achieve herd immunity and are confident this will cut down cases, nobody has the experience to see what’s actually going to happen after immunity is achieved,” he told FMT.

“This is a very tricky situation because it is a question of lives and livelihoods, but I believe the authorities would want to see the sectors opening up soon.”

Mak, who is also the Labuan Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) vice-president, said Labuan residents had just gone through a difficult and heartbreaking period when the island was the worst hit by the pandemic in the country.

“The authorities managing the pandemic and the business sector have to sit down and have more exchanges in coming up with win-win solutions,” he said. “This is simply because we will go back to square one if lives are threatened again.”

Another businessman, Azhar Othman, said Labuan was still not out of the woods yet, adding: “It would be utterly irresponsible to urge all sectors to open immediately without any study on the implications.”

Azhar, who is the chairman of the Labuan BIMP-EAGA (Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area) Business Council, said the situation needed to be monitored, especially to ensure the Delta variant of Covid-19 was not imported onto the island again.

“It is, therefore, understandable why the authorities imposed strict SOPs on the port and shipping sector.”

However, he said, those managing the pandemic and the Labuan Port Authority should consider introducing contactless operational procedures.

“The Labuan Port Authority and the relevant business groups should also sit down with the Labuan disaster management committee to sort out the restrictions,” he said.

“I do understand that not allowing ships to berth will attract unnecessary charges and the public would have to bear the burden.

“Another alternative is for the government to absorb or subsidise all or part of the surcharge.”

As for other businesses, he said, they should be allowed to open in accordance with Phase 2 of the national recovery plan. - FMT