JOHOR BARU – As the state with the third-highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country, Johor’s economy has been badly affected with 26,651 businesses closing shop this year.
This data was obtained from Johor Investment, Entrepreneur Development, Cooperatives and Human Resources Committee chairman Datuk Mohd Izhar Ahmad during the state assembly's question and answer session on September 7.
Izhar was queried by Bentayan assemblyman Ng Yak Howe on the number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the state forced to shut down due to the pandemic in 2020.
“Johor has a total of 98,190 SMEs and is the third-largest state in the country.
“Following a report received by the Malaysian Companies Commission, up until June this year, 26,651 businesses have closed down in Johor,” Izhar said.
Just a day before, Izhar was asked by Penggaram assemblywoman Gan Peck Cheng on Johor’s unemployment rate from January to July this year.
According to Izhar’s written reply, the number of unemployed in Johor rose from 15,400 to 65,000 in 2020, recording an unemployment rate of 3.5%.
For the first quarter of 2021, the state registered 70,800 unemployed people with an unemployment rate of 3.9%.
“This number shows an increase in the unemployment of 13,300 people compared with the first quarter of 2020, which registered 57,500 unemployed people,” Izhar said.
According to statistics presented by Menteri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad, Johor recorded 68 suicides from January to May this year.
Replying to Gan via a written answer, Hasni said the majority of victims were male.
“From the 68, 60 were men, while eight were women,” Hasni said.
Forty-two of the victims were aged 21 to 40 years old, while 14 were from the 41 to 60-year-old age group.
Ten of the suicides involved those aged 61 and above. – The Vibes, September 18, 2021
