KUCHING: Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) has urged the government to refrain from increasing the price of the 3-ply face masks.
In a statement yesterday, the party said the government should reduce the price of the masks from 80 sen to 50 sen each instead of increasing the maximum price to RM2 each.
“PSB fully agrees with the statement by Chong Chieng Jen (Sarawak DAP chairman) but PSB would go one step further in asking the government to gazette the maximum price of the 3-ply masks at 50 sen each.
“If the costs of manufacturing or importing the 3-ply surgical masks exceed 50 sen per piece, the government can subsidise the costs during this period of Covid-19 crisis in Malaysia.”
PSB said that any price above 50 sen would present an unbearable burden for people with low income in the community.
The party added the people affected by this would have to go about without the protection of wearing masks because they could not afford them.
“This is especially so when small businesses are suffering closures and workers face retrenchment as some businesses collapse or cut their payrolls,” it said.
PSB urged the federal and state governments to intervene and save the low income and under privileged members of the community.
“In this time of unprecedented crisis, the country and the state need strong and bold leaders who will put the well-being of the people at the forefront above all else.
“Increasing the gazetted price of masks at this stage will definitely hit the less fortunate people the hardest. That is the worst thing to do now,” pointed out the party.
If the state government had insufficient funds, grand and unnecessary projects ought to be shelved and the funds diverted to sectors where they were most needed at the moment, it added.
