Press Statement By Sim Kiat Leng:
The recently announced BKSS 5.0 shows that the GPS ministers are detached from the reality and that they don’t understand the difficulties faced by the common people in Sarawak, especially the B40 group.
If these GPS ministers had really spent time and effort to understand the difficulties faced by the people, they could surely come up with better ideas and initiatives and also implement these initiatives more efficiently and effectively.
While the discounts on rent, exemption for permit and licence fees and discounts for Quit Rents and Assessment Rates are welcomed, BKSS 5.0 has largely failed to address the plight of the B40 during this pandemic time and it is the B40 who are most affected by this pandemic and have difficulty to even put food on their tables.
The GPS government prides itself to have RM26 billion in reserves but why is this not used to help the people? What is the point of having such a large reserve if it is not used during such challenging times?
To help the B40, Abang Johari should reintroduce another round of monetary assistance which was initially introduced in BKSS 1.0. However, this must come together with proper execution because till today, many are still complaining that they have yet to receive the initial RM250.00 per month under BKSS 1.0. which has been six months and counting. Therefore, the poor implementation process which is currently in place must be revamped.
Hence, I urge the Sarawak Government to extend the following assistance to Sarawakians:
(i) Income replacement of monthly payment of RM250.00 each for B40 for a period of 3 months and for the frontliners for a period of 6 months.
(ii) Financial Assistance of RM2,000.00 each for micro business owners.
