Federation: Allow certain government agencies to operate
KUCHING: Federation of Kuching, Samarahan and Serian Divisions Chinese Associations president Datuk Richard Wee is of the view that certain government agencies should be considered as essential services and be allowed to operate on a limited basis during the movement control order (MCO) period.
In order to still curb the spread of Covid-19, he proposed that instead of the usual weekly office hours, some should be allowed to operate two or three days per week so that the public could seek their services.
“The government should consider this, such as in the case of some small and medium enterprises (SMEs) requiring documentation for their loan applications,” he said.
He was commenting on some hoping that the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) would be allowed to operate, even on a limited scale, throughout the MCO period to enable businesses and SMEs renew their licences which had expired during the MCO, thereby allowing them to apply for government loans and facilities.
In addition, he suggested that non-essential companies could also be allocated a few days at the end of the month to allow relevant staff to settle urgent administrative matters such as payroll and monthly salaries.
“Some of the staff members in the relevant department of the company should be permitted to go the premises to ensure that the payment of salaries is not affected,” said Wee.
He said they would also have an opportunity to process any payments due.
He added that safety measures should still be upheld such as only allowing a few staff members to carry out these duties at a time.
“This can be considered as a more flexible approach,” he said.
