THE Sarawak government will provide a special one-off financial assistance of RM10,000 to active businesses to help them overcome the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The one condition attached to the assistance is that these businesses must be registered with the Social Security Organisation (Socso) as of December 31, 2020.

Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg, in rolling out the seventh Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS) programme aimed at helping ease the financial burden of the state’s businesses this afternoon, said around 40,000 active businesses will benefit from this scheme.

It will also cost the state government more than RM400 million.

He said this special financial assistance will be paid in two tranches, RM5,000 next month and the remaining RM5,000 in December.

In rolling out the three-point 7th BKSS, the chief minister said he had received requests from business associations and federations for financial assistance to sustain their businesses, particularly to cover their operational cost, including the rental and wages of their employees, especially among small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Abang Johari said there would also be a relaxation of government procurement policy as a result of the pandemic.

The easing of the policy is to assist those in the construction sector, he said.

Under this policy, the government will grant automatic extension of time (EOT) for ongoing projects with completion dates within the MCO 3.0 period.

“Projects with scheduled completion dates expiring within the MCO 3.0 period to be granted EOT of maximum 60 days.

“In view of EOT having been granted, liquidated and ascertained damages (LAD) already imposed shall also be waived during the gazetted MCO period,” Abang Johari said.

Payment valuations and assessments will be automatically carried out at the end of every month without having to wait for the contractor’s written detailed applications for payment claims and to allow a minimum interim payment of RM1,000 monthly for all state contracts, he added.

Under the relaxation, the government now allows payment to consultants’ site supervision teams during any MCO period but subject to the terms and conditions to be determined subsequently.

The state government will also allow variation of price for government works contracts “as a consequence of severe surge in prices for certain construction materials due to the global impact of Covid-19 pandemic”.

Allowing this variation of price could cost the state government around RM400 million, Abang Johari said.

The third measure was on the renewal of foreign workers’ employment permits for agriculture, mining, construction and services sectors.

Abang Johari said there is a need to ensure economic resilience during a pandemic.

“The government will support businesses that require foreign workers for their business operations through relaxation of renewal of employment permits.

“As such, the renewal of employment permit with the validity of labour licence for the plantation sector until December 31, 2022 during Covid-19 will be extended to all sectors, namely agriculture, mining, construction and services,” he said.

To date, the state government has rolled out six assistance packages since April last year, totalling RM4.5 billion. – August 4, 2021.