KUCHING, Oct 7: Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong has appealed to the State government to give the special one-off RM10,000 cash aid under the Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) 7.0 package to all active businesses, including microbusinesses in Sarawak.
When Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg first announced the seventh package of BKSS in early August, she said that there were no conditions attached to indicate that only small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are eligible for the financial aid of RM10,000.
“All businesses including the microbusinesses then were hopeful and looking forward to receiving the money.
“The Chief Minister had in fact promised that the Sarawak government will provide the one-off financial assistance of RM10,000 to active businesses in Sarawak registered with Socso as of Dec 31, 2020,” she pointed out in a statement today.
Yong raised this issue after learning that the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in the Chief Minister’s Department had recently sent out emails to all eligible SMEs detailing the criteria to apply for the RM10,000 cash aid including the documents required to be submitted latest by Oct 22.
She thus expressed disappointment with the State government for making a sudden U-turn to exclude microbusinesses with sales turnover of less than RM300,000 from the BKSS 7.0 package.
She claimed that the BKSS 7.0 financial aid is now only available for eligible SMEs as per SME Corporation definition.
“Microbusinesses have also suffered greatly from the economic fallout as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and require financial aid from the government to assist them to overcome this difficult time.
“It is unfair for the State government to totally ignore their plight as these small businesses also have heavy financial burden including to pay for their operating costs, rental and wages for their employees,” she added.
Previously, on Aug 4, Abang Johari had announced the special cash aid for active businesses especially SMEs after considering several requests from business associations and guilds.
He said that the measure will help ease the financial burden of approximately 40,000 active businesses in Sarawak and it will cost the Sarawak government a direct expenditure of more than RM400 million.
The special aid will be paid in two tranches with RM5,000 in September and the remaining RM5,000 in December 2021.
On Oct 2, Kuching South City Council (MBKS) Mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng informed during his weekly Facebook live session with the community that application for the aid will start today (Oct 7).
He said that business owners registered with Socso will need to register for an account with Sarawak ID and upload all necessary information through the Sarawak government portal (www.sarawak.gov.my) to apply for the aid. — DayakDaily
