KUALA LUMPUR: The federal government, state governments, business community, employers, employees and people have been urged to work together to ensure the smooth implementation of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) today in an orderly, controlled and safe manner.
Making the call, the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM) said complacency must note set in and all Malaysians must continue to embrace and practise safe health prevention to prevent the recurrence of a third wave of Covid-19 infections.
“At this critical moment, we all must stand united to demonstrate our determination, our confidence and our perseverance to fight against the coronavirus and support all efforts to revive the economy,” the chamber’s president Tan Sri Datuk Ter Leong Yap said in a statement here.
Ter said he believes the government has considered all aspects, including not compromising the public’s and community’s health risk, before arriving at the decision to reopen most economic sectors and business activities.
This CMCO entails strict adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs) and guidelines set by the authorities to keep the community and workers safe and protected.
He said NCCIM is aware that the government needs to find a balance between protecting public health and the community with economic sustainability and people’s livelihoods.
He said the extended MCO has impacted businesses, including micro enterprises, in terms of cash flow deficits, substantial revenue losses and businesses closed down, leading to loss of employment and income.
“A prolonged economic crisis, combined with rising unemployment, could easily spin out of control and ‘morph’ into social problems,” he said, pointing out that the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to take a while to be contained and wear out until anti-viral medicine and a vaccine are found.
The CMCO is to ensure that the economy continues to run, helping businesses’ survival and sustainability, which will help save hundreds of thousands of jobs and preserve incomes, he noted.
“We stress that it is important for all businesses and industries to fully comply with the SOPs and guidelines set by the authorities so that they can operate in a safe and controlled manner,” he said, adding that industries and businesses operating in a “red zone” must preserve a high level of health prevention surveillance. – Bernama
