Concerns have been expressed by many voters in Sandakan over scarce job opportunities and business sustainability in the post-Covid 19 induced economic recession. Whilst many understand that there is only so much that the Sabah government can act to help Sabahans, they wonder whether their vote on 26 September can persuade the Federal government to act more forcefully to save their business and jobs.
There is unanimous request for an extension of the loan repayment moratorium by banks for another period of 6 months when it expires on 30 September. The bank loan moratorium has benefited 8 million Malaysian individuals and businesses with a total value of RM 90 billion. This will help to save businesses and indirectly jobs. Unfortunately, the Federal government has refused to grant another 6 months extension without any reasonable justification.
There is also concern about rise in unemployment, expected to be more than 1 million by the end of this month, with youths making up more half the number unemployed. The Federal government should offer wage and hiring incentives to employees and employers to increase employment opportunities. In my 2020 Budget, I had proposed the Malaysia@Work programme offering wage incentives of RM500 a month to employees and hiring incentives of RM300 a month to employers to encourage them to hire local workers
The Perikatan Nasional(PN) Federal government has refused to extend the bank loan moratorium or offer both work and hiring incentives proposed by the previous PH government. Only a convincing victory for Warisan Plus in the Sabah election on Saturday can make the PN Federal government reconsider these two proposals to protect jobs and businesses.