THE government should focus its efforts on curbing community transmissions instead of targeting the manufacturing sector with regard to Covid-19 infections, said business leaders.

They said Covid-19 data showed that almost 70% of cases were sporadic infections while those from factories were much lower.

Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers president Soh Thian Lai said the government’s action is misplaced.

“If you go to check the factories, we only operate at below 20% capacity. There are only 1.5 million workers,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“According to data from the Ministry of Health, 69% of Covid-19 cases, or about 400,000 cases, are sporadic infections, while 95,000 are from factories.

“So, is the government’s direction in the right place? You will cause the entire manufacturing process to be disrupted. I think they are looking in the wrong direction.”

Soh said enforcement actions against factories will not solve the problem of rising infections because the source of transmission is from the community.

He said the plan to tackle sporadic cases in the community should be to improve the efficiency of the vaccination drive, including increasing the daily vaccinations from 250,000 to 300,000 or 400,000.

He said most factories are abiding with the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the government.

He said once a worker tests positive, the rest of the workforce would be screened.

“On the contrary, it is difficult to screen for sporadic cases in the community. In addition, many cases in the past were actually brought into the factory from the community,” he said.

“It is difficult to screen for sporadic cases, but the government blames the factories for this.”

He said Ops Patuh – a nationwide crackdown on businesses not complying with the SOP to flatten the Covid-19 infection curve – will not address the real source of the problem at all.

He said this is like putting the cart before the horse.

On the government’s effort to weed out companies that have obtained exemptions through deception, Soh said the number is small as most manufacturers abide by the law.

He also reminded the government that some key areas and related industries are actually supply chains of different industries at the same time, including some which products may be supplied to the pharmaceutical industry and automotive sector.

“This is unfair. The government has to understand the entire supply situation,” said Soh.

Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin said on Friday that a new committee headed by him will be responsible for coordinating Ops Patuh and will launch a nationwide operation in the future.

He said he hoped that through the operation, the past fire-fighting response could be avoided and violations could be reduced.

‘Multiple SOP confusing’

SME Association vice-president Chin Chee Seong said comparing the data from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) and the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) to weed out the cheats may be less effective.

He said for Miti’s online application procedure, merchants do not fill in the industries they operate but select from related lists, which may be different from the data they have in SSM.

“So, how does the government compare? We support good law enforcement action, but law enforcement officers must understand what warrants a fine and what does not,” he said.

“They must do a good job in law enforcement. You can’t issue compound notices at will.”

Ipoh Timur MP Wong Kah Woh said the government’s biggest problem since the first movement-control order imposed last year is multiple SOP.

“If any law enforcement action is not the same across departments, the SOP will continue to confuse people, and the government’s law enforcement will become a scapegoat,” he said.

He said extending the full lockdown for two to four weeks will only punish small businesses.

He suggested that the government gradually reopen various industries.

This, he said, could go according to each region or state, especially in areas where there are few Covid-19 cases.

Using Perak as an example, Wong said it has been recording fewer than 100 cases daily.

“But the whole state is still in lockdown. In high-infected areas such as Selangor, if the industrial zone is seriously affected, the enhanced movement-control order should be enforced,” he said.

“It should be separated (at different areas), and implement the restriction order more flexibly, instead of restricting everyone.” – June 28, 2021.