DAP Sarawak Started A Petition Urging Sarawak Government to Include All SMEs and Micro Businesses in BKSS 7.0 Financial Aid

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Press Statement By David Wong:

DAP SARAWAK has started a petition, urging Sarawak state government to include all SMEs, including micro enterprises, in the BKSS 7.0 financial aid, and to make the said aid automatic.

The state government should not forget about the micro enterprises and newly established business in the RM10,000 financial aid under BKSS 7.0, said Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak deputy chairman, David Wong.

In pointing this out, he said that a report from SME Corp. Malaysia and Department of Statistic Malaysia (DOSM) has reported that as of 2020, 78.4% of all the SMEs in the country are categorized as micro enterprises.

“When we are talking about SMEs in the state, of course we are also talking about the micro enterprises which take up more than three-quarters of the total SMEs. The state government is playing it dirty when it announces that it will provide financial aid to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), but exclude micro enterprises as because they are not “small” nor “medium” enterprises.”

“Not to mention that under the Covid-19 pandemic, many businesses have resorted to retrenching their employees and to restructure their businesses in order to survive. New businesses that are just established within the last three years, especially right before the pandemic outburst, are also badly affected, but why is the state government excluding these businesses for the financial aid?”

He said, if the state government is sincere in providing financial aid to the businesses in the state, why is the state government imposing so many new criteria and now requiring business owners to file their applications within the 2 weeks’ time?

“We want the state government and our chief minister to honor his announcement on Aug 4, 2021, that active SMEs, of course including micro enterprises, that are registered with SOCSO should be eligible for the financial aid automatically.”

Wong, who is also the state assemblyman for Pelawan, said DAP Sarawak has launched an online petition on “change.org”, urging the state government to include all SMEs for the BKSS 7.0 financial aid.

“During the pandemic, we encourage people to only go out when necessary and to avoid crowded places, hence launching our petition online. We hope that Sarawakian, especially the business owners who have been neglected, can come out to voice out their concern and sign our petition.”

“With the public’s support, we will be able to bring the rakyat’s voice to the state government and will be able to make changes. Those who are willing to sign the petition can head over to “change.org” and search for the keyword “BKSS”.”

He believes that with the support of the people, the state government will have to give in, and more businesses will be able to get the financial aid that they need.