SMALL and medium enterprises (SME), which are already bogged down by rising costs after the Covid-19 outbreak, are bracing for difficult times ahead as a result of the movement-control order, said Michael Kang.

Members have been grappling with cost issues since the Covid 19 outbreak, said the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs’ Association of Malaysia president.

“The cost has already gone up since February, after Covid-19. It’s already up around 10 to 20%,” he said.

Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) president Ter Leong Yap said the movement control will inevitably cause public inconvenience and business disruptions, but it is a tough decision that has  to be made in the best interest of protecting public health.

Businesses are bound to be hit hard by the decision and must deal with it, Ter said.

“It is a short-term pain for implementing a more forceful containment of the Covid-19 outbreak rather than to let it prolong or worsen and cost a lot of human lives,” he said when contacted.

However, he said, the primary concern is to ensure that there is enough stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE), particularly the production and supply of masks and sanitisers for front-line healthcare workers and also to the public at reasonable prices.

From tomorrow, all business and religious activities in the country will cease to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a special address last night.

“The government has decided to restrict all movements in the whole country from March 18-31,” he said in a national TV broadcast.

“This step will be taken under the Control of the Spread of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 and the Police Act 1967.

“I am aware that some will be inconvenienced by these actions but this must be done to stop the spread of Covid-19.” – March 17, 2020.