Abang Johari (left) speaks as he unveils the BKSS 7.0, joined on the stage by (from second left) Abdul Karim, Fatimah, Dr Sim, Jaul, Naroden and Sharifah Hasidah. – Photo from Sarawak Public Communications Unit (Ukas)
KUCHING (Aug 4): The Sarawak government will provide a special one-off financial assistance of RM10,000 for active businesses in the state under the newly-launched Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) 7.0, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg today.
He explained this special one-off assistance, one of the three measures under BKSS 7.0, will be given to some 400 companies registered with the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) as of Dec 31 last year.
He pointed out this special one-off assistance is given following requests from the business associations and federations for financial assistance to sustain their businesses, particularly to cover their operational cost, including rental and wages of their employees, especially the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
“This measure will help to ease their financial burden of approximately 40,000 active businesses in Sarawak that will cost the Government direct expenditure of more than RM400 million.
“This special financial assistance will be paid in two tranches, RM5,000 in September and the remaining RM5,000 will be paid in December 2021.
“I hope the business community will make use of this assistance. Other states do not give (such assistance), only Sarawak,” he said at the launch of BKSS 7.0.
Also present during the announcement were Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, Minister of Local Government and Housing Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, State Secretary Datuk Amar Jaul Samion, Assistant Minister of E-Commerce Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais and Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali.
The second measure under BKSS 7.0, said Abang Johari, is the relaxation of government procurement policy due to Covid-19 pandemic in order to support businesses in the construction sector.
He revealed these include to grant automatic Extension of Time (EOT) as a direct consequence of Movement Control Order (MCO) 3.0 based on actual granted gazetted period for on-going projects with completion date not within the MCO 3.0 period.
The other easing of government procurement policy is for projects with scheduled completion dates expiring within the MCO 3.0 period to be granted EOT of maximum 60 days.
“In view of EOT having been granted, Liquidated and Ascertained Damages (LAD) already imposed shall be waived during the gazetted MCO period,” he said.
Abang Johari also said under this second measure, payment valuations and assessments shall be automatically carried out at the end of every month without having to wait for contractor’s written detailed applications for payment claims and to allow minimum interim payment of RM1,000 monthly for all State Contracts.
The easing of government procurement policy will also allow payment to Consultants’ Site Supervision Teams during any MCO period subject to the terms and conditions to be determined subsequently.
“(The other relaxation is to) Allow Variation of Price for government works contracts as a consequence of severe surge in prices for certain construction materials due to the global impact of Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Sarawak government is estimated to bear the cost of approximately RM400 million for allowing the variation of price,” added Abang Johari.
As for the third measure, Abang Johari said this regarding renewal of foreign workers employment permits for agriculture, mining, construction and services sectors.
“In view of the need to ensure economic resilience during the pandemic, the government will support businesses that require foreign workers for their business operations through relaxation of renewal of employment permits.
“As such, the renewal of employment permit with the validity of labour licence for the plantation sector until December 31, 2022 during Covid-19 (pandemic) will be extended to all sectors, namely agriculture, mining, construction and services,” he said.
According to Abang Johari again, all these measures will involve government expenditure of more than RM800 million.
He expressed his hope these measures will aid in the continuity of enterprises and businesses during the National Recovery Plan now implemented in Sarawak and mobilise the economy.
He was confident that when the state’s vaccination drive reaches herd immunity target by the end of this month, more sectors of the economy will reopen in stages and there will return to normalcy but with strict standard operating procedures (SOPs).