The government must “reset” its reliance on disruptive lockdown measures and move towards a more targeted approach focusing on systematic identification and containment, urged the Pakatan Harapan economic committee.
“We should have learnt our lessons from all our prior 'lockdowns' that the fight against Covid-19 will never be resolved with simplistic lockdowns.
“That’s akin to using a sledgehammer to kill a fly.
“Thus, we must do everything we can to enable us to live alongside this pandemic and survive in the long run,” the committee said in a statement today.
The statement was signed by Tony Pua Kiam Wee (DAP-Damansara), Dzulkefly Ahmad (Amanah-Kuala Selangor), Wong Chen (PKR-Subang), Tan Yee Kew (PKR-Wangsa Maju), Noor Amin Ahmad (PKR-Kangar), Ammar Atan (Amanah Youth), Raja Iskandar Fareez (DAP), Syeikh Khuzaifah Bawazeer (Amanah Youth) and E Hun Tan (DAP).
The statement came after various investor groups - including the Japanese Chamber of Trade and Industry, Malaysian Dutch Business Council, and Malaysian-German Chamber of Commerce - wrote to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, calling for the reassessment of standard operating procedures (SOPs) that “not only disrupted operations but also failed to control the virus transmissions".
They also expressed their concerns about industries that were badly impacted by the lockdown, as well as some of their member companies - part of the global supply chain supporting Fortune 500 companies in supplying essential goods worldwide - and their ability to operate in these times.
“Clearly, successfully managing workplace transmission is an important precursor to reopening Malaysia’s economy across all sectors responsibly.
“It is time to move past the arbitrary distinction between 'essential' and 'non-essential' sector types as even essential services can be hotbeds of virus infections,” said Harapan’s economic committee.
The committee urged the government to beef up its investments in the country’s healthcare system and in “pandemic-proofing” work spaces to ensure that economic activities can continue.
Citing the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Harapan economic committee said that it was time to “adopt a more scientific assessment in accordance with the risk of transmission”, with SOPs focusing on improving air quality and ventilation in indoor spaces, as well as treating outdoor spaces as low risk by taking the appropriate social distancing and crowd control measures.
Other measures suggested by the committee include a government investment of RM15 billion in grants, soft loans and tax incentives to “pandemic-proof” workplaces, a mandatory subsidised testing regime to be periodically held at workplaces, and increased investment in strengthening the local healthcare system.
Earlier, Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Samenta) chairperson William Ng was reported as saying that an estimated 90,000 businesses in the country would have closed down in the latest movement control order (MCO).
This is said to be a figure thrice the 30,000 initially reported by the Companies Commission last year, taking into consideration that some businesses could have stopped their operations without reporting it to the commission. - Mkini
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