Pix for representational purpose only. -Bernama
PETALING JAYA: While the Covid-19 virus may be blamed for the massive job losses following the closure of many businesses, various industry players opine that the government could have done more to reduce the blow.
Mohd Effendy Abdul Ghani, deputy president of the Malaysian Trades Union Congress, told theSun that the various lockdowns have undoubtedly caused this widespread job losses.
“The government must look at things with a ‘helicopter view’ and should not just implement a nationwide blanket lockdown because not all states are facing a surge of Covid-19 cases,” he added.
He pointed out that states such as Terengganu and Perlis are not facing massive numbers of infections and should not be punished with lockdowns.
Activist urges govt to listen to the people and revise Covid war strategy Bernama
Covid-19 but lately, it has faltered in several areas.
“The government has clearly missed the point,” social activist and economist Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam told
theSun in a no-holds-barred interview yesterday.
“We were once an example for the rest of the world to follow, but now we are at the bottom going by international standards.”
Ramon, who is a director at the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute, said coordination and correlation among stakeholders were “non-existent”.
“Apart from the slow roll-out of the vaccination programme, we also have to deal with illogical and arbitrary standard operating procedures.”
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PETALING JAYA: Private sector employees have been urged to emulate civil servants by also donating to the National Disaster Relief Fund for Covid-19. .
National debt nearing danger level Bernama
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s debt problem, compounded by the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) financial scandal, is close to reaching a dangerous level.
The situation has been further aggravated by the economic fallout caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and drastic measures must be taken to address the problem, according to economists.
Such measures could include cutting back on capital expenditure and raising taxes or introducing new ones, they told
theSun.
According to Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz
(pix), Malaysia’s debt now stands at 58% of gross domestic product (GDP), just 2% shy of the 60% debt ceiling.