Confusion as non-essential factories in EMCO districts get approval to open

 

Workers of at least two factories and one office in non-essential sectors, located in areas under the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) in Selangor, have received letters allowing them to operate.

According to the Malaysian Trades Union Congress, the letters were issued by the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) on July 4, allowing operations to start from July 5.

MTUC’s Selangor and Federal Territories chairperson Wan Noorulazhar Mohd Hanafiah said the division has received complaints from workers of two electronic factories and one research division of a company in a non-essential sector.

The factories and offices are located in Klang and Teluk Panglima Garang in Kuala Langat, both districts under EMCO.

“In one factory, they were told work was to resume (last night) at 8pm but at 2pm (yesterday), the management met and decided to postpone the decision until further notice.

“Workers at the other factory were told (yesterday) to standby while the management decides.

“So workers are on tenterhooks. They are told to come to work, and then to standby, when in fact, the businesses should not be operating under EMCO,” Wan Noorulazhar told Malaysiakini.

Earlier, senior minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said only factories producing rice, bread, sugar, cooking oil, wheat, fresh milk, baby formula, medicine and face masks would be allowed to operate throughout the EMCO period in Selangor and parts of Kuala Lumpur, starting July 3.

Malaysiakini has contacted Ismail Sabri on the matter.

‘Which one are we to follow?’

One of the letters sighted by Malaysiakini showed that the electronics factory located in Klang was confirmed as being registered in Miti’s Covid-19 Intelligent Management System (CIMS).

CIMS vets applications by companies that wish to operate during the “total lockdown”, which began on June 1.

The letter, dated July 4, states that under CIMS, the company is allowed to operate, starting July 5, in accordance with the standard operating procedures under the National Recovery Plan (NRP) phases.

According to the letter, Selangor is under Phase 1 of the NRP, whereby the private sector can operate at 60 percent capacity.

Wan Nooorulazhar said he contacted the police to clarify this, but police were also unaware and said the letters were unlikely to be fake despite initial assumptions.

“I am confident they are not fake, because these are not your half-past-six companies,” he said.

“I don’t know if this is just something the Miti system automatically issued (for applications prior to the EMCO announcement) but I hope it can be clarified.

“It goes against the EMCO standard operating procedures, so which one are we supposed to follow?” Wan Nooorulazhar asked.

The manufacturing sector is believed to be not the only non-essential sector in Selangor receiving the Miti letter.

A social media user this morning also shared a similar letter issued to an employer in the non-essential retail sector.

Raids on non-essential factories operating in Selangor

Last week, Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin joined enforcement officers in a raid on a factory in Selangor as part of the nationwide crackdown dubbed “Ops Patuh”.

“This is an engineering company. They are not supposed to work. This is not an essential sector,” Hamzah told reporters.

Yesterday, an electronic cigarette factory in Shah Alam was compounded RM10,000 for operating despite not being listed under essential services.

Selangor is the nation’s most industrialised state, with the closure of non-essential factories bound to make a dent on the national economy.

On July 2, International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali cited the World Health Organization in saying that lockdowns “can cause extreme economic damage, particularly affecting those in the lower-income group”.

Although not explicitly referring to factory closures, Azmin's statement came soon after the EMCO on Selangor and most of the Klang Valley was announced. - Mkini

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