KUCHING: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro enterprises should provide correct and complete information when applying for assistance or grants under Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) to prevent delays in the disbursement of funds.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said it was important for applicants to ensure that the information was correct, otherwise their applications would be rejected by the computerised system and payment would be delayed.
The Minister of Finance and New Economy said that as of October last year, 12,809 SMEs had submitted their documents for the relevant assistance under BKSS 7.0, but 9,955 or 77.7 per cent of these SMEs were found to have submitted incomplete or inaccurate business documents and thus their applicants were rejected.
“The verification process is actively being carried out, and up until January this year, a total of RM20.6 million has been channelled to SMEs and micro enterprises which have submitted complete business documents,” he said at a press conference after announcing the BKSS 8.0 package at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here, yesterday (Jan 28).
He assured that the state government would ensure that assistance for SMEs as announced in BKSS 7.0 was paid to those who were eligible.
“The evaluation committee for this assistance has identified 22,110 SMEs and 24,322 micro enterprises owned by Sarawak entrepreneurs who are eligible for the assistance.
“They have been contacted to submit the required business documents online to enable payment to be made. This is important because the evaluation process is done through a computerised system which requires complete and accurate business information.”
Abang Johari said a lot of assistance was not disbursed to those who should receive it due to inaccurate information provided.
He explained that a computerised system had to be used as the initiative involved a lot of applicants.
“The system has been developed to make sure that we can provide the assistance as soon as possible when the information is correct.”
He recommended that infographics and videos be uploaded to Sarawak Public Communications Unit’s (UKAS) social media pages for applicants to refer to if they did not understand, reasoning that this would help applicants in filling in the right information.
“And for those in other areas, they can refer to the elected representative’s service centre for assistance,” he said.
On another matter, the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman expressed his appreciation to the people for the overwhelming mandate to the coalition to continue to govern Sarawak for another five years.
“All our efforts, commitment, and plans to develop Sarawak are now being actively implemented by the ministries and agencies under the Sarawak government.
“I will ensure that Sarawak under GPS will continue to strive to move Sarawak towards stability, prosperity, and glory.”
At the same time, Abang Johari said the state government would also continue its efforts to effectively handle the COVID-19 pandemic so that it could be controlled and not burden the lives of the people.
