KUCHING: Both federal and state governments have been urged to extend financial aid to businesses still prohibited under the conditional movement control order (CMCO).
Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Youth chief Michael Tiang said although many businesses were allowed to reopen under the CMCO from today onwards, there were still businesses such as hair salons, beauty spas, photo studios etc, that were prohibited.
“Most of them are not eligible for any economic relief packages provided by both federal and state governments.
“While most can now reopen their businesses to make a living, we should not neglect the needs of these people who continue to stay home,” he said in a statement yesterday.
“I welcome the Sarawak government’s Sarawakku Sayang Special Aid (BKSS) 3.0 to include taxi drivers and school bus and van drivers. However, I wish to urge the Sarawak government to also include e-hailing drivers, who have also contributed to our society by providing transportation services as well as playing a major role in domestic tourism,” he added.
He lauded the state government for making BKSS 3.0 more inclusive by extending aid to single individuals with a monthly income of less than RM2,000.
“I would like to point out that there are also many young and single individuals who have just started their jobs last year, that don’t have any personal data with Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri (LHDN) to be eligible for BKSS 3.0…further, many are self-employed, making low incomes and thus have never declared their taxes with LHDN,” he stated.
Tiang urged the state government to allow these single individuals to apply for BKSS 3.0 through the online portal, so that they could also benefit.
