Help the poor instead of downplaying MCO 3.0 impact - Kit Siang

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz Tengku Abdul Aziz should focus on introducing measures to assist the poor during the third movement control order (MCO 3.0), rather than to downplay its impact, Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang said.

This was after Tengku Zafrul said the MCO 3.0, which kicked in today, is not expected to have a significant impact on economic growth as most economic sectors are still operational.

Lim said such comments reflected complacency on the government's part.

"It would be better for Zafrul to provide immediate assistance to families who have been living on the edge for over a year.

"Without help under the MCO 3.0, the poor would fail to cope under the compounded effects of reduced income, school closures and psychological pressures," Lim said in a statement.

Lim cited a survey conducted for the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) Malaysia, which found four in 10 urban poor families have dipped into their savings to survive despite already receiving the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) cash payments.

Lim also panned Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob for defending the government's confused response to the Coivd-19 pandemic with continuously changing standard operating procedures.

"It is utterly ludicrous for Ismail Sabri, when he tried to defend the indefensible about the flip-flop SOPs, claiming that the government needed to constantly adapt the SOPs to the latest developments of the Covid-19 situation in the country.

"Ismail Sabri should be reminded that nothing could be more pathetic and reprehensible than to try to defend the indefensible when a lousy job has been done with unbelievable incompetence and ignorance," he said.

Lim pointed out that health experts had also disputed the government's decision to ban individual outdoor exercise, a decision that was later reversed.

This was on top of instituting mass mall closures when they only made up less than five percent of the Covid-19 clusters, compared with 48 percent by factories.

The government had also defended the move, stating that it had ordered factories to close too but did not publicise them.

Lim said the proof is in the pudding and the fact is that Malaysia is performing poorly in the fight against Covid-19 when compared to its regional peers.

"In Indonesia, 3.2 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated, while 5.0 percent of the population had been given one dose, achieving a daily rate of 260,112 doses of vaccine administered.

"In Malaysia, only 2.1 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated while 3.3 percent of the population has been given one dose, achieving a daily rate of 42,968 doses administered.

"Putrajaya had initially aimed to vaccinate up to 75,000 people daily under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, but it had fallen far short of this target. Why?" the DAP veteran asked.