Sabah SME group seeks extension of wage subsidy programme
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Small and Medium Enterprises Association has called for an extension of the wage subsidy programme (PSU) to help its members stay afloat.
The association’s president, Foo Ngee Kee, said there must be “serious intervention” from the government to prevent the closure of many businesses.
Speaking to FMT, he suggested that the programme be extended to September.
He acknowledged the benefit of the hiring incentives programme under the National Economic Recovery Plan but said it would be better for the government to focus on helping businesses keep their current workforces.
“Isn’t it better to save a job than to encourage people to hire new workers, which would require you to provide training? Why not enhance the PSU so that people can keep their jobs?
“Go for continuity and help SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) because the first quarter of this year does not look rosy.”
Foo said the business situation in Sabah was already dire before the latest movement control order (MCO) was imposed.
He claimed that many businesses could not make any money for most of last year. “Although restaurants made some money after being allowed to operate during the conditional MCO, the amount was not enough to cover the losses suffered during the previous total lockdown,” he said.
He also said many hotels were closing down.
Sabah Employers Association president Yap Cheen Boon said many businesses would, in the coming two weeks of the MCO, lose the ground they had recovered after the end of the previous MCO.
He called for “strong support” from the government, such as an assurance that government offices that businesses rely on would be “at least 80% available”.
“There should also be extensions of deadlines for various monetary and documentation submissions,” he said.
Yap also called for the speeding up of outstanding wage subsidy payments that had not been paid since last year, saying he could not accept the explanation that the government was overwhelmed by the volume of applications.
He called it “an admission of poor internal planning if not downright inefficiency”.
He said the wage subsidy programme must be extended to all sectors instead of being limited to tourism and retail.
He claimed that the government was ignoring the plight of such businesses as tuition centres, private buses as well as manufacturing sectors face increasing costs and the lack of shipping containers.
“The Sabah government would do well to gather input from economic stakeholders from micro to small to medium and big players,” he said.
Yap said business operators were burdened by what seemed to be petty problems such as where to get quick cash to pay for expenses and to survive till next week.
“It may seem trivial, but the state economy is now indeed made up of decimated businesses with such worries and pressures on a daily basis. Their voices should be heard.”
