KUCHING, Jan 24: Business owners, local students and the B40 group were left out in the Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang 5.0 (BKSS 5.0).
Special assistant to Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Michael Kong said the highly anticipated BKSS 5.0 turned out to be an overhyped financial assistance package as many quarters were left on the lurch.
“Many quarters including the Sarawak Business Federation (SBF) have called upon the Sarawak government to introduce a wage subsidy programme to help business owners. However, their cries for help fell on deaf ears.
“Not only were the business owners left on the lurch by GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak, our local students and also those from the B40 are floundering as well,” he said in a statement today.
Quoting examples from measures implemented in Peninsular Malaysia, Kong said the state government in Selangor had allocated money for online learning sessions and tuition classes for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) candidates.
It also introduced the Mesra Rakyat programme where all 56 state constituencies in Selangor would be allocated RM100,000 for them to provide basic essentials to those affected by Covid-19.
“Likewise in Penang, the state government gave financial assistance to those who would be badly hit by the latest two weeks of MCO (Movement Control Order).
“All its 59 state assemblymen were also allocated RM30,000 to help those affected by the two weeks lockdown,” he said.
With these benefits introduced in other states, he said Sarawak’s BKSS 5.0 is pale in comparison.
Thus, he urged the Sarawak government to come up with more measures to benefit all people from different backgrounds.
“In order to truly help the people, any initiative must be well thought out so that its effects can benefit people from different backgrounds. Therefore I call upon the Sarawak government to come up with more measures to benefit the masses,” said Kong.—DayakDaily
