Hajiji gets thumbs up from SUCCC

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah United Chinese Chamber of Commerce (SUCCC) backed the measures taken by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor to revive the state's economic agenda.

The decision was aimed at slowly easing the financial pressure of the people who had been living in hardship since the pandemic struck, said SUCCC president Tan Seri Andrew Liew Sui Fatt.

Liew, who is also a member of the Sabah Economic Advisory Council (SEAC) said today that the announcement made by the Chief Minister on June 28 was in tune with the National Recovery Plan (NRP) but maintaining the standard operating procedures (SOPs) of the Movement Control Order (MCO) 3.0.

Liew hopes the decision taken by the Chief Minister would be respected by the federal government because Sabah has been managing the Covid-19 pandemic fairly well averaging some 200 cases per day.

He said Hajiji, who is also the state Finance Minister, had taken into account the views from the industry sectors before making the decision to relax the SOP, so that the state could start the recovery process as prolonging the lockdown would further strain the state's economy.

"SUCCC fully supports the Chief Minister's decisions in implementing timely reasonable measures to save the state's economy. It should not be hampered by the federal government's 'high pressure' (approach)," said Liew.

He said the state government implemented flexible policies without ignoring the people's health as they always keep abreast with the health authorities on the development of the pandemic.

"We are confident that the state government has taken stringent measures and actively responds to the call to revive the economy.

"At the moment, many countries have also started to ease things where we can see major economic cities are relaxing their restrictions including they allow dining in at restaurants, but adhering to physical distancing with strict number of people inside the premises," said Liew who is also the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) vice president.

He said the number of Covid-19 cases between Sabah and peninsula was also different, and looking at this situation the chief minister had taken a prudent decision which could be the key to save the state's economy.