SARAWAK’S business community must brace for hard times to continue as the state government is in no hurry to open the state borders, even to people who have received Covid-19 vaccination, said Dr Sim Kui Hian.

The Sarawak housing and local government minister said the state has to be very cautious about letting in the “so-called green passport holders” – people with a certificate of vaccination.

Sim, who is a key adviser to the state disaster management committee, said this as the battered local business community piles pressure on the Sarawak government to lift to travel restrictions, warning that the economy may not withstand another year of closure.

“We will look into it (allowing vaccinated persons into the state) but will have to take medical advice into consideration.”

He said at the moment there was no certainty on the durability of the vaccine.

Sim said there are lessons to be learnt from countries that have rolled out their vaccination plans, such as the UK, Israel and neighbouring Singapore.

He said strict health and safety standard operating procedures (SOPs) and travel restrictions are still in place in these countries.

“These countries are cautiously opening up. In the UK, the schools are still not open despite more than 15 million of its people having been vaccinated,” he said on a webinar hosted by the Sarawak Business Federation on Covid-19 vaccination and its impact on Sarawak business.

Sarawak Tourism Federation president Audrey Wan Ullok said tourist arrivals dropped by 74% from 4.6 million in 2019 to a just over a million last year.

Tourist receipts also took a  nosedive over the same period, plunging by 75% from RM11.57 billion in 2019 to RM2.88 billion last year.

Ullok said that has had a severe impact on employment in Sarawak, where 19.1% of the state’s workforce are employed in the travel and tourism sector.

“Some countries are giving green passports to their citizens who have had their second shot to travel,” she said.

She said with airlines starting to fly again, it is vital for Sarawak to lift the travel restrictions, review the mandatory 14-day quarantine order and “start bringing visitors to the state”.

“Everybody is desperate to start again.”

Sarawak Bumiputera Entrepreneurs Chambers chairman Abang Helmi Ikhwan said “employers could be forced to shed more workers” to stay afloat if the economy remains in the doldrums.

However, he said the latest figures offer room for optimism as the economy is “steadily going back to normal at the third quarter of this year”.

“The vaccination programme is the best hope for the business community.”  – February 24, 2021