Call for loan moratorium till end of emergency

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Democratic Action Party Socialist Youth (Dapsy) said that it is only appropriate that the government grant to the people of Malaysia a loan moratorium until the end of the emergency on Aug 1.

Sabah Dapsy organizing secretary George Wong Hsueh Cheng said that with the latest Movement Control Order (MCO 2.0) announced by the Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin which took effect on Jan 13, the livelihood of Malaysians, especially owners of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that do not fall within the ambit of “essential services”, will be greatly affected.

“There are so many uncertainties ahead for Malaysians as this MCO 2.0 had been announced by the Prime Minister without providing an exit plan for the people. The government had failed to provide any assistance or come up with any schemes to help ease the burden of the people, especially the SMEs who had to continue paying their loans and yet deriving near to no income during this MCO 2.0 period,” said Wong in a statement.

Wong then suggested that the government should immediately and without any further ado announce a loan moratorium, at least to borrowers from states that are locked-down by MCO 2.0 such as Sabah till the end of the emergency declared as there is no guarantee that MCO 2.0 will be lifted on 26 January.

“These SMEs are the backbone of the Malaysian economy as they generate most of the revenue for the government. This is especially so in Sabah where more than 80% of businesses are conducted by SMEs. Furthermore, ever since the tourism sector had virtually collapsed from the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in December 2019, the only hope for Sabah’s economy to recover is through these SMEs,” said Wong.

Wong said that a loan moratorium would not only help SMEs, but also many young Sabahans out here who will be experiencing pay cuts, and even worse, unemployment.

“There is the i-Sinar EPF withdrawal which would definitely help, and therefore, there should be a blanket approval to whoever applies for it without any questions asked, especially in MCO2.0 states like Sabah. These funds will definitely help to improve spending power in the state,” said Wong.

He then remarked that this PN government has been proven slow in introducing aid, but quick to introduce movement control orders, restricting the movement of the people.

“Before introducing this MCO, the government should already have a very clear SOP guideline and plans for aids in mind which they should also announce together with the MCO. Right now regrettably, there are still so many unanswered questions and unclear directive for the SOP, especially what actually can or cannot be done. Why take a further 2 or 3 days just to announce the SOPs?”

Wong said that the eventual announcement of the SOPs is welcomed and that it is better late than never, but the damage has been done.

“The Rakyat are suffering now. I hope that this PN government knows what it is doing in the recent announcements of MCO2.0 and emergency without a curfew. Do not make this MCO2.0 and emergency purely for their own political gain. It is time PN put aside political differences and sit together with the opposition to come up with a solid plan to combat Covid-19,” said Wong.