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Vaccination program needs planning, consider foreign workers: FMM

FMM In The News: THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE, Friday, February 5, 2021 - THE Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has said the national vaccination programme, needs to be rolled out expeditiously and effectively.

Its president Datuk Soh Thian Lai (picture) said although phase three of the plan is set to commence in May 2021, there has been little information on the availability of vaccines for non-Malaysians.

We hope due consideration will also be given to foreign nationals including the foreign workers as they are also key contributors supporting our economic activities and growth.

There must also be an action plan to address the illegal foreign workers in the country as this group is a big threat and risk to the nation,” he said.

Soh added the plan will cover the majority of those contributing to the national economic growth, and hopes everyone within this sector is factored into the national plan.

Additionally, he said enforcement efforts should be streamlined and conducted according to standard guidelines and in accordance to the general standard operating procedures (SOP) that have been announced for implementation nationwide.

While the industry supports the need for the Government to tighten the enforcement of SOP compliance and the need to expand the number of agencies that would be involved in enforcement activities agencies beyond the police force such as RELA, the armed forces, MITI and the local councils, we request that it is streamlined,” he added.

The federation believes further clarification on the Emergency Ordinance and some of the key actions that have been taken by the government via the Emergency Management Technical Committee are still needed.

This includes the proposed amendments to several Acts to tighten the SOPs and enforcement, asset takeovers, and reorganisation of the necessary resources to support the public health services and further strengthen the efforts to fight Covid-19,” he said.

Meanwhile, Soh said the industry was disappointed that the announcement made by Prime Minister (PM) Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in not allowing the opening up of the remaining economic sectors which were excluded from the list of essential services.

This included the textile, apparel, and footwear sectors and the entire supply chain including retail and other industries that may be indirectly supporting the essential services as well as major export oriented companies.

These sectors are unable to remain closed over this extended MCO period which is hurting their business tremendously,” Soh said.


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