https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/...usiness-groups/
PETALING JAYA: Business groups have voiced their opposition to having each ministry draw up its own SOPs, saying it will cause confusion and hurt traders even if economic sectors are allowed to operate.
Reacting to senior minister for security Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s announcement on the matter, they say the lack of clarity is a running theme, and last-minute changes and SOPs announced without warning in the past have already taken their toll.
Ismail said at a press conference yesterday that each ministry would be responsible for setting SOPs for sectors under its purview for the nationwide movement control order (MCO) set to begin today.
He said a standard set would also be available for the whole country.
Speaking to FMT, Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce executive director Shaun Cheah said it looked like restrictions were being made up on the fly and without any communication between ministries.
“Confusion means the enforcement agencies will have a field day, too. They will be just as confused as the businesses.
“The ministries should be talking to each other to align their policies, and we don’t believe industries are being consulted when they are being developed,” he said.
Cheah said the introduction of HIDE was a prime example of this lack of industry consultation. Instead of encouraging SOP compliance, he said, it had driven customers away from predicted hotspots.
“HIDE predicts that these will be hotspots, but now it will turn them into ghost towns.”
Michael Kang, president of the SME Association of Malaysia, agreed that a lack of ministry coordination would cause businesses the same problems that past uncertainties had and would affect traders adversely.
“It’s as if the SOPs change by the hour. Until now, nobody knows which SOPs to follow. Small traders and micro businesses will suffer huge losses as a result,” he said.
Kang said it seemed as though the National Security Council (MKN) was out of touch with the real challenges facing SMEs on the ground.
“I would tell the prime minister to totally restructure MKN to include more private sector expertise,” he said.
“Then, there needs to be a single, standardised set of SOPs that everyone can understand and follow rather than every ministry having its own.”
He also said that without adequate notice of the MCO, SMEs had been left flat-footed and without enough time to properly prepare for the new restrictions.
Too many chiefs will spoil the SOPs, Enjoy different SOPs... Confusion begins