KUALA LUMPUR – Despite an initial rejection, the bid for a government-backed rental relief fund for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) impacted by Covid-19 will be renewed on Wednesday’s sitting of the Dewan Rakyat.
The proposal’s most prominent advocate – Klang MP Charles Santiago – said that his decision to re-propose the suggestion was due to promising input that he received from Putrajaya.
Charles told The Vibes that he had provided a detailed explanation to Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah after the latter said ‘no’ to his proposal in the Dewan Rakyat on November 25.
“He (Shahar) told me to try and bring up the proposal (rental relief fund) during the debate (committee level) for the RM20 billion Covid-19 fund bill that will be tabled this Wednesday.
“The government has the funds and he said some of it can be used for such purposes. I intend to ask the government to allocate RM1 billion from the fund for rental relief assistance,” said Charles.
The mechanics of Charles’s proposed assistance is as follows: RM8,000 (maximum) per month for 6 months.
“It will only be for SMEs that are really affected by the pandemic. They provide documentations to prove their financial instability and letters from their landlords over their rental arrears,” he said.
On a question on Shahar’s parliamentary reply that the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Act 2020 was sufficient to deal with tenants’ outstanding rent, Charles begged to differ.
“That act can be used only till this year. What about next year?” he asked.
He said that unlike the government’s loan moratorium scheme where business owners can iron out their problems with the banks, tenants need to pay rent to landlords and therefore do not benefit from the said assistance.
“Rental roughly contributes around 20-30% of operating costs. So, if business owners cannot make profit, how are they supposed to pay rent?” – The Vibes, December 11, 2020
