Alan Ling
MIRI (Oct 3): Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak calls on the state government to create more job opportunities for the people and to address unemployment problem in the state.
Its secretary Alan Ling said Sarawak recorded 4.4 per cent unemployment rate in the second quarter of this year.
“Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg has a vision to achieve high income economy by 2030 but we must first address the issue of unemployment which affects many Sarawakians today due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The state government must find both short and long-term solutions to the problem, otherwise the poor will become poorer while the rich richer,” he said when met yesterday.
Ling also said the state government must not neglect the self-employed who have lost their sources of income or lesser income particularly after the pandemic struck.
“For example, I have come across a hotel employee, a receptionist, telling me that his salary is cut by 30 per cent.
“This surely hit him and people like him hard, especially if they are the breadwinners for their families,” Ling said.
Ling also called on the state government to speed up the distribution of Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) 7.0 which has not been paid to the recipients.
The RM10,000 aid is a special one-off financial assistance for active businesses registered with Socso in the state.
“The payment is supposed to be paid in two stages, the first half in September and the other in December,” he said.