KUCHING, Nov 8: Companies that were unsuccessful in their applications for the special one-off financial assistance under Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) 7.0 have been urged to quickly resubmit the required documents and information by Nov 13.
State Economic Planning Unit director Datu Dr Muhammad Abdullah Zaidel in a press statement today said the first tranche of payments for the financial assistance has been made to qualified recipients who have submitted complete and valid documents.
However, he noted there were still many applicants who submitted incomplete and invalid documents that required re-submission.
Muhammad Abdullah explained that a special evaluation committee was established to ensure integrity, compliance, and transparency as the Sarawak government needs to ensure that good governance practice has been put in place for the distribution of the financial assistance.
He said the committee has approved 46,000 eligible small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro enterprises for the financial aid based on the list provided by the Social Security Organisation (Socso); subject to confirmation by the companies upon submission of the required documents.
“Details pertaining to ownership of the company, bank details, and whether the businesses are still in operation are needed before the payment can be disbursed. This is to ensure that the financial assistance is given to the targeted recipients.
“Information such as business trade licenses, business registration certificates, supporting documents of owners of the businesses, and Socso statements are required to ensure legal operation of the business entity. Business owners only need to use the company stamp to verify these documents.
“This was clearly listed in the email sent to business owners on Oct 7,” he said.
Muhammad Abdullah added business owners are only required to submit the relevant information online through the Sarawak Online Portal (www.sarawak.gov.my). He added that the online portal was opened for two weeks from Oct 7 until Oct 22.
After that, he explained that the verification process of the documents was carried out after the closing date.
He noted that approximately 220 companies were found to have ceased operations and most did not provide the correct information as well as incomplete documents.
In addition to that, there were also those that provided outdated documents as well as supporting documents which were not obtained from the authorities, invalid or expired trade licenses which were not supported with proof of renewal, and poorly-scanned and unverified documents.
Hence, he said the Sarawak Online Portal has been reopened from Oct 30 until Nov 13 to help applicants who have not been able to provide complete or correct documents.
He added that an email has been sent in three languages in Chinese, English, and Bahasa Malaysia to all recipients on Oct 30 highlighting the required documents for submission.
He added a short video was also made available for reference.
“The Sarawak government is very sincere in helping the business community.
“Companies have been urged to quickly resubmit the necessary information and documents so that the financial assistance can be given latest by December this year.
“This is not to burden companies but is part of the good governance mechanism in place to ensure transparency, accountability, and integrity from government in managing public funds.” — DayakDaily
