SBF hopes civil service workforce capacity will be increased as Sarawak enters Phase 4 of NRP

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PEMERKASA PLUS

Dato Jonathan Chai

KUCHING (Jan 3): Sarawak Business Federation (SBF) secretary-general Dato Jonathan Chai hopes the government will increase the workforce capacity for the civil service as the state entered Phase 4 of National Recovery Plan (NRP) today.

Chai said it is important for the government to increase the workforce capacity for the civil service to ensure that the delivery of services to businesses and members of the public would not be disrupted.

“This is especially for the renewal of permits for the foreign workers, approvals of the development projects and registration or renewal of the trade licenses,” Chai told The Borneo Post today.

Chai pointed out that pursuant to the guidelines for Phase 4 of NRP, the private sector would be allowed to operate at 100 per cent capacity.

Therefore, he said government departments and statutory agencies should follow the same guidelines to normalise the civil service that are crucial for supporting and maintaining the livelihoods of many people.

“Indeed, it’s a great news to the business community in general as Sarawak is easing into Phase 4 of the NRP effective today.”

To a question, Chai agreed that the move to increase the workforce capacity is overdue, as the number of positive cases registered in the state have steadily declined from three digits to double digits during the past couple of months.

“No district has registered double digits for the past few days while many others have not registered any new cases.”

Chai said while it should be applauded that the government isadopting a cautious approach in dealing with the pandemic, the timely opening up of various sectors is instrumental to the revival of the state’s economy, which has been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Of course, we need to continue to strictly observe the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) put in place by Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) and we should not take things for granted even when we move into Phase 4 of NRP,” said Chai.