KUALA LUMPUR – Seputeh MP Teresa Kok is calling on the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration to take a proactive approach in battling urban poverty and unemployment, with the first step being the revocation of the state of emergency.
Kok said the proclamation of emergency will deter investors from investing in Malaysia.
“I urge the prime minister to resume parliamentary and DUN sittings to allow elected representatives to participate in debates in reviving the economy, and to take part in issues such as unemployment, urban poverty and more,” she said in a statement here today.
The Seputeh MP also took the opportunity to explain the hardships faced by the urban poor in the nation, quoting a United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund report stating that there is a doubling of unemployment in Klang Valley from September to December last year.
Kok then slammed the PN administration for not taking a proper approach on the matter.
She said so far, Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa had announced that Kuala Lumpur City Hall will allow hawkers to set up shop anywhere they wished, and Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the donation of 5,700 packets of rice on Federal Territories Day.
“We all know that this kind of piecemeal approach will not resolve the increase in urban poverty in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley.
“It is also an irony that there are many economic sectors in the valley that are facing a shortage of workers, and these companies don’t seem to know where to recruit local workers to fill the vacancies left by the foreign workers.”
Kok urged the government to engage all stakeholders, including MPs from Kuala Lumpur and Pakatan Harapan state governments. – The Vibes, February 8, 2021
