KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Economic Advisory Council (SEAC) fully support Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Haji Noor’s announcement to allow certain economic and social activities to resume operation under the Phase 1 of National Recovery Plan (NRP) for Sabah.
SEAC Chairman, Tan Sri David Chu, said Hajiji’s statement has the full support of the whole Sabah Cabinet and will help to expedite Sabah’s economy to recovery from the present depression.
“The National Security Council (NSC) has allowed Sabah to issue standard operating procedure (SOP) statements on a daily basis all these whiles, so to retract it now makes no sense.
“Sabah has been able to contain the Covid-19 pandemic better than many states in West Malaysia by all accounts, in term of per 1000 population and much better in term of per square km.
“It is not logical nor does it make economic sense to equate Sabah with other states with very much larger number of cases,” he said in a statement Wednesday.
He said when Sabah was under lockdown by the NSC because of the number of Covid-19 cases was high, it did not impose such restriction in West Malaysia.
“Hajiji’s statement in allowing dine-in and other economic activity is to assist national economic recovery from Covid-19 which is precisely the objective of the Federal Government.
“SEAC would like to ask the Federal Government to adopt a pragmatic SOP policy to allow Sabah to continue to issue our own SOP.
“The Sabah Government leaders know the condition in Sabah better than leaders in the Federal Government. To be fair, the Federal Government should not impose excessive restrictions on any state whose COVID19 cases are on the decline and at an acceptable level,” he said.
“Excessive and unnecessary interference can be unproductive. Let Sabahans manage the Covid-19 pandemic SOP to achieve faster economic recovery,” said Chu.-pr/BNN
