Dr Renco Yong says the maritime industry has been severely affected by the pandemic.
SIBU (Aug 27): Sarawak Association of Maritime Industries (Samin) is calling upon the state government to consider allowing shipyard workers who have received two doses of Covid-19 vaccine to be allowed to go back to work.
Its president, Dr Renco Yong, said the time has come for the workforce in the industry to be fully restored as the situation in the state has shown improvement based on the lower number of Covid-19 cases among the local population.
He said the Covid-19 pandemic has severely affected the business of Samin members and the state’s marine industry players, owing to the movement restrictions and social distancing requirements imposed to curb the pandemic.
“Most of the shipyards in Sarawak have been strictly observing the SOP during all the phases of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
“The shipyards have taken great pains to confine their workers to their living quarters to minimise their contact with outsiders for their own safety.
“We call upon the state government to consider allowing staff of shipyards who have received two doses of vaccine to be allowed to go back to work,” Yong said in a press release today.
Adding on, he said Samin is banking on the state government to continue extending its support to the marine industry to ensure it remains competitive to support the economic growth of the state and the nation.
Yong stressed that the marine industry is the backbone of the state’s maritime-dependent economy as shipping facilitates much of the transportation of local commodities and products to markets and the importation of cargos into the state, adding that it is also crucial to the offshore oil and gas industry which is a significant contributor to the state’s economy.
“In this regard, the continuous support of the state government in the form of incentives and favourable policies is crucial in helping industry players to weather these challenging times and grow to become competitive nationally and internationally”, he added.
He reiterated his hope that the state government continued to promote the development of the marine industry despite the change of federal government.
“We are also sure that the new government and prime minister will put the nation’s economic recovery on the top of their agenda and will quickly get our economic house in order,” said Yong.
“Against the backdrop of the still raging Covid-19 pandemic and the devastating impact it has wrought on our economy, we simply cannot afford to delay efforts to revitalize the economy and put it back on the path of growth,” he said.
Towards this end, he said Samin is always committed to work with the state and federal agencies involved in the marine industry to promote the interests of its members and enhance the industry’s contribution to the economy.