PUTRAJAYA must do more to help people suffering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic both economically and with their livelihoods, said Lim Guan Eng.

The DAP secretary-general said the damaging economic impact has ravaged the lives of many Malaysian households who cannot make ends meet.

“The devastating economy should not be underestimated. We have given food parcels, but what the people want is to earn a living.

“People want back their lives. They want jobs. Food aid can’t pay their rent or their bills,” he said during the launch of the DAP Position Paper on Health & Economic Recovery Policies.

Lim said that never before had the country seen such high demand for aid.

“We need a different approach to tackle the pandemic. They (government) keep doing things over and over again but expecting different results.

“We must have a realistic assessment for the country.”

The Bagan MP said the government’s current exit strategy was not working as all the four phases under the National Recovery Plan were unrealistic.

“The government has lost touch with what is happening. They are not doing everything. They are not committed to what is happening on the ground.”

Lim reiterated that the government must give grants for small- and medium-sized enterprises to jumpstart their businesses.

He said for those in the M40 group and in small businesses, they just want a “time-out” in paying their bills whilst waiting to earn their incomes, especially direct financial grants and an interest-free bank loan moratorium.

“Help them (SMEs) to mitigate the costs; that’s why there is a need for interest-free bank loans.

“The banks have earned enough so they must share. If they (government) don’t ask for interest-free loans then they are protecting the banks.

“If we plan carefully and strategically, the country can emerge stronger and better than before, having ‘built back Malaysia better’.”

He said the total lockdowns have had a devastating effect on the economy with estimated losses since the first MCO 1.0 until now of at least RM500 billion.

“The economy contracted by 5.6% last year and the government is forced to scale down its overly optimistic GDP growth projections from as high as 7.5% to 4%.”

He said DAP had proposed a comprehensive strategy for pandemic mitigation to enable “living with Covid-19.

“Control and mitigate the current wave of infections, (be ready) to meet future outbreaks.

“Also open up the social and economic sectors with safety catches and have medium-term strategies on dealing with Covid-19.”

Lim said that in addition to addressing the nation’s immediate health and economic concerns, it presented a concrete exit strategy from the continuous and disruptive lockdowns.

He said these recommendations also served as essential building blocks to pave the way ahead for longer term structural reforms that Malaysia urgently needs.

Lim said the nation must recover from the disastrous management of the pandemic that has resulted in the record-breaking infection and death rates that the country is experiencing today.

“For example, we have to recognise a situation with 25,000 Covid-19 positive cases with no ICU patients or deaths, is a far better outcome than 5,000 positive cases with 100 in ICU and 20 deaths.

“What is prioritised are not measures which will necessarily reduce total infection, but measures which will drastically reduce the number of severe Covid-19 cases and death.

“The ‘new normal’ is not about living with perpetual lockdowns in their various forms.”

He said the ‘new normal’ is how Malaysia can adopt measures to minimise and mitigate the presence and impact of Covid-19 within the community while reopening most if not all social and economic activities.

“At the same time, we will build our individual and healthcare resilience to reduce death and cases requiring intensive care unit treatments.” – July 25, 2021.