KUCHING, April 29: The Federal and Sarawak governments should look at devising measures to strengthen the nation’s economic growth such as by reducing compliance cost and import and excise tax, and grant more business loans to recapitalise economic sectors.
Raising this, Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Stakan branch chairman Dato Sim Kiang Chiok said that this is the hope of businesses and industries as Malaysia including Sarawak will broadly lift Covid-19 restrictions from Sunday (May 1).
“Businesses and industries are hoping that with less restrictions, it will ease their costs of operation while increasing productivity.
“Apart from the pandemic, there are many other challenges including the Russian-Ukraine war and weak Malaysian currency that pushed prices up which has a knock-on effect on cost in doing business,” he said in a statement today.
Despite that, Sim welcomed the governments’ latest announcements to further ease Covid-19 restrictions whereby from May 1, mask wearing will be optional in outdoor public places, while check-in with MySejahtera and physical distancing will no longer be required.
Apart from that, fully vaccinated travellers and children aged 12 and below are exempted from pre-departure and on-arrival tests when entering Malaysia and Sarawak.
“This will ease the livelihood of people. Moreover, our economic sector needs to be revived through post-Covid-19 economic plan being put in place by the Sarawak and Federal governments.
“However, time must be given for the industries and businesses to regenerate so that our economy can be restored on the growth path again,” he added.
Sim also noted that the easing of restrictions has been possible as Malaysia and Sarawak have achieved high vaccination coverage, while hospital and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions are dropping.
The Sarawak Health Department is also taking a wide range of measures and preparations in response to a possible surge of Covid-19 with antiviral drugs readily available in hospitals and clinics, setting up of field hospitals in major towns and pushing for vaccinations and second booster dose for high-risk individuals.
“There are still requirements to wear face masks in indoor and crowded places. So, we should continue to take safety precautions in order to protect those who are still not vaccinated or cannot be vaccinated due to medical conditions,” he advised. — DayakDaily
