KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has slammed the government for making it mandatory for all manufacturing and factory workers to undergo an antigen rapid test kit (RTK-Ag) swab twice a week in areas under the enhanced movement control order (EMCO).
Its president, Datuk Abdul Halim Mansor, said the International Trade and Industry Ministry’s (Miti) latest announcement came too late to curb the transmission of Covid-19 at workplaces, and now appears pointless.
“Miti’s announcement came in too late because, as we know, there are already many Covid-19 clusters at workplaces,” he said in a statement.
Halim urged the government to instead speed up vaccination exercises for industrial workers.
“The Pikas (Public-Private Partnership Covid-19 Industry Immunisation Programme) collaboration must be enhanced for inoculation to be carried out at workplaces and not just on a campaign basis.”
He said the government must think up a win-win solution to manage the pandemic and safeguard people’s livelihoods.
“Due to the total lockdown and EMCO, workers haven’t been to work in four weeks, and the salary subsidy of RM600 can be received only in August. That is the problem that needs to be solved first.
“The government should think of ways to help workers get back to their jobs to provide for their families, and at the same time, flatten the Covid-19 curve.”
On June 28, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the government has agreed to implement the Wage Subsidy Programme 4.0 by allocating RM3.8 billion through the Economic Recovery and People’s Protection Package (Pemulih).
He said the government will support up to 500 workers per employer with an assistance of RM600 per worker for a period of four months.
SMEs forced to close
Meanwhile, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai said mandatory screenings could force small and medium enterprises to shutter during the lockdown, as the cost of these tests would be too much to bear.
“To SMEs, it could be a very high cost, and the financial impact might force them to not operate during this period.
“For big corporations like MNCs (multinational corporations), which are financially stronger and important to global supply chains, they will choose to conduct more tests to comply with the EMCO SOPs.” – The Vibes, July 14, 2021
