Government aid finds its way to taxi drivers and SMEs

 

PETALING JAYA: When the full national lockdown was implemented to restrict the movement of people, some of the most harshly affected were those who do the moving.

“With the first movement control order (MCO), there were still customers but MCO 3.0 has been the worst. Taxis depend on customers going out, and no one is going out right now,” said Zakaria Ibrahim, 61, who has been driving taxis for a decade.

He said the limits on movement between districts in particular has caused his income to shrivel; he is barely able to eke out RM30 a day.

“It’s really hard for people to go out now. But I think if they allow three people (in a car), at least there will be some people using taxis, so that has really affected us,” he told FMT outside Amcorp Mall in Petaling Jaya.

Taxi driver Zakaria Ibrahim said he is barely able to scrape together RM30 nowadays, but has been helped by the government’s various initiatives.

However, the government’s aid packages, with the latest Pemerkasa Plus a prime example, have gone some ways to ease the pain for Zakaria and many like him.

“The government has distributed aid for taxi drivers during MCO 1.0 and 2.0, and they have promised to give more for MCO 3.0 in July, so we are waiting for that.

“I have received around RM2,000 from the first MCO until now, which includes money from Bantuan Prihatin Nasional and Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat as well. The aid for taxi drivers is automatic as those who have APAD (Land Public Transport Agency) driver cards are eligible.”

He said that the cash stimulus has helped him provide food for his family, buy daily essentials and supplement his rent payments for his home and taxi.

Alan Tan, the executive director of hardware supply company OGX Industrial Suppliers, said the pandemic had threatened to derail the business he built from the ground up over the past 10 years with his business partner.

“Thankfully the government had a quick response and took fast action to announce a series of aid initiatives to SMEs and the rakyat. From there, I got the SRF (Special Relief Facility) and also the PSU (Wage Subsidy Programme). This has indirectly helped our finances and helped us reduce our burden in terms of salary payments,” he said.

A total of seven of his employees were eligible for the various wage subsidies offered and the company was provided a soft loan of RM300,000 through the Special Relief Facility, which helped them see some recovery towards the end of last year.

Businessman Alan Tan said the latest lockdown has put his company’s recovery on pause, but hoped more direct government aid was on the way.

With things slowing back down under the latest MCO, he said he only expects things to turn back around in the third quarter and beyond. He hopes for more direct government aid “for example, for rent, utilities subsidy, a bigger discount for Tenaga Nasional Berhad or the water bill”.

“It would have a direct impact, rather than loans, where you still need to serve the interest and repay back (the principal),” he said.

Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Samenta) president Kam Lian Hooi said the wage subsidy has been key in keeping many SMEs afloat since the pandemic began, but hoped this could be expanded.

He said the targeted loan moratorium in Pemerkasa Plus would help businesses deemed inessential to weather the loss of revenue while forced to close.

Kam added that more than government aid, many firms want to see vaccination rates improve and cases drop so the country could progress through the National Recovery Plan and more sectors could reopen.

He also hopes that everyone will play their part by complying with SOPs to curb the spread of the pandemic.

“Offering to come to the industries to give free vaccinations is also a welcomed move to help boost vaccination rates and ease the burden of business owners.”

The Pemerkasa Plus package covers the first phase of the government’s National Recovery Plan, which lays out the foundations and milestones needed to return to normality over four phases.

The plan aims to offer clarity to the rakyat, businesses and investors so they may plan ahead after what has been an unpredictable era for the country. - FMT

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