Lajim (right) and AIM Sabah senior manager Jahimim Siman during the press conference.
KOTA KINABALU: Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) on Friday announced the extension of its moratorium to 378,507 borrowers nationwide.
AIM Executive Chairman Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin said the extension takes effect from July 1 to July 31.
The decision to extend the moratorium was made following the federal government’s decision to extend the Movement Control Order, said Lajim in a virtual press conference on Friday.
Of the 378,507 borrowers or Sahabat AIM as they are referred to, about 64,000 are from Sabah, he added.
“Following the MCO extension, AIM has also decided to suspend all its activities such as meetings, Skim Pembiayaan Ikhtiar (SPI) collection and approval of SPI applications, withdrawals and claims from its various funds.
“However, Sahabat AIM who want to continue paying their loan can do so via the cashless method as we do not encourage physical dealings at the moment,” he added.
According to Lajim, AIM which does not receive any funding from the government is expected to suffer a loss of about RM380 million as a result of the moratorium extension from June 1 to July 31.
AIM, he said, had offered a 16-week automatic moratorium during the first MCO and this was followed by a targeted moratorium until October 2020 which involved 12,568 Sahabat AIM.
The moratorium is still in effect for AIM borrowers who still have problems in repaying their loans, he said, adding that on June 1, AIM announced another moratorium which has now been extended to July 31.
On whether the moratorium will be extended should the MCO be continued, Lajim said a decision will be made on the matter when the time comes.
AIM, he said, has introduced eight economic stimulus packages for its Sahabat as well as other initiatives to help them during this trying time.
“We introduced the ‘Bazaar Sahabat ‘ platform for them to buy and sell products as well as services. The Bazaar Sahabat is an application they download onto their communication gadgets,” he said.
Lajim added that AIM also ensures that its members are taken care of and in view of this, it has distributed 20,700 food baskets to needy Sahabat AIM families nationwide.
According to Lajim further, even though AIM has received the approval to operate from MITI, the state offices will operate at 60 per cent capacity in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) implemented by the National Security Council.
On the SOP, Lajim pointed out that he supports the state government’s decision to allow more business sectors to re-open during the MCO 3.0.
“Covid-19 infection cases in Sabah are relatively low as the state government has been in control of the situation. Therefore more businesses should be allowed to re-open,” he said, adding that these businesses however, must ensure that they comply strictly with the SOP that has been pun in place to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
Lajim was also of the opinion that instead of a blanket MCO throughout the country, the federal government should instead consider implementing targeted MCO or EMCO only at high risk areas.
“All businesses in areas with low infection rate and show more than 90 per cent compliance to the SOP should be allowed to fully re-open. For example if the number of cases in Beaufort is high but there are no cases in Sipitang, businesses in the latter district should be allowed to re-open. Why must the business sector and residents there suffer?
“The authorities then can focus their manpower in ensuring that the SOP is fully complied with in the areas where the targeted MCO is implemented,” he opined.
Lajim disclosed that he forwarded this suggestion to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor during a recent meeting and was informed that it is one of the requests the state government made in its updated SOP for the state.