KUALA LUMPUR – The prime minister has failed to account for how the nation is doing worse in its handling of the Covid-19 crisis, said Lim Kit Siang after Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s aid announcement last night.
The DAP veteran said five months into the emergency proclamation, Malaysia “has become an international poster boy as a nation that failed in the pandemic”, comparable with the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain and India.
“We are now ranked No. 39 among nations in the world with the most cumulative Covid-19 cases, with 572,357 cases and 2,796 fatalities. For the 20th consecutive day, we have beaten Indonesia in the daily increase in new cases.
“Malaysia and India are the two worst-performing countries in the May 2021 Bloomberg Covid Resilience Ranking – Malaysia falling 15 spots to No. 35 and India falling 20 spots to No. 50 out of 53 countries with economies of more than US$200 billion (RM823.6 billion).”
He said Malaysia has been mentioned in the international media as one of the 19 countries in the company of Argentina, Colombia, Iran, Nepal, Philippines, Pakistan, Costa Rica and South Africa that could see the pandemic reaching a “crisis point”, as what has happened in India.
“Muhyiddin provided no answers. He omitted mention of this embarrassing subject and the reasons for these colossal failures in the Covid-19 pandemic (handling) in his live telecast last night.
“The spectacle of a government fumbling and bumbling in its imposition of the MCO 3.0 (third movement control order) total lockdown after 17 months of the pandemic, like the last-minute decision that any business that wants to operate during the 14-day lockdown must obtain permission from the International Trade and Industry Ministry, is not one to inspire public trust and confidence.”
Hours before the lockdown took effect, Muhyiddin unveiled the RM40 billion Pemerkasa Plus assistance package, of which RM1 billion goes towards boosting the public healthcare system’s capacity.
Among others, Prihatin recipients will get an extra tranche of monetary aid, while banks are instructed to provide a three-month targeted moratorium.
Businesses will see the one-month Wage Subsidy Programme, with a limit of 500 workers per application. – The Vibes, June 1, 2021
