Liew Sah Tion
KUCHING: The government should allow all small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to resume operations to ensure that they can continue to survive the Covid-19 pandemic, said Kuching Printer Association president Liew Sah Tion.
In particular, Liew recommended that state government and State Disaster Management Committee allow the state printing industry to resume production.
He pointed out that none of the factory workers in the printing industry had been infected with Covid-19 and during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period, the printers are limited to the production operation of their machines in the factory and do not conduct external business or have contact with the outside world.
“Prior to the occurrence of the Covid-19 epidemic and the enforcement of the MCO, most of the work undertaken by the printing plants in Sarawak were not fully completed.
“The manufactured products produced by the printing plants are closely related to the food necessities and daily necessities in most shopping malls, and also include printed copies of government authorities such as health bureaus and hospitals, local councils, and statutory agencies,” Liew said in a press statement.
He felt that the relationship between SMEs is indispensable and therefore they must be connected and not derailed.
“People in the printing industry in the state have also confirmed that the number of people working each time would not exceed half of the original workers.
“The big factories also require no more than 10 people and it is only open for two days a week,” added Liew, who is also president of the Malaysian Printers Association Sarawak Branch.
He said the printers would absolutely abide by all the rules and regulations during the period of the business management order.
Liew said the Kuching Printing Association and the Malaysian Printers Association Sarawak Branch are in full support and would cooperate with the MCO measures implemented by the government.
They also believed that MCO is the only best way to resist the outbreak and isolate the communicable outbreak in the community.
“After more than a month of cooperation between the government and the people to fight Covid-19, it is generally controlled to a certain extent.
“However, we still cannot ignore the seriousness of the epidemic and must take strict precautions to maintain the safety and hygiene of individuals and communities,” he stressed.