A GROWTH in the manufacturing sector in the month of June when the whole country was in lockdown showed that the Perikatan Nasional government lied to the people about the closure of factories during that period, former prime minister Najib Razak said today.

He was referring to the report published by the Statistics Department yesterday, which showed a 6.5% or RM124.4 billion growth in the month of June.

The report also showed there was a 1.2% growth in the manufacturing sector compared with the month of May while the employment rate went up by 1.2%  to 2,188,142.

“We were supposed to be in total lockdown in June, so how is it possible that the sale and employment rate in the manufacturing sector went up compared to a month with no lockdown?

“This shows that the government has lied to us and most factories nationwide were allowed to operate during the lockdown,” he wrote on Facebook.

The Pekan lawmaker said these factories were allowed to operate at the expense of other sectors such as entertainment, tourism, gig economy and such, who made zero income during the lockdown.

“Why do all these other sectors have to sacrifice for the sake of the manufacturing sector?

“What is the use of the lockdown when more than two million employees in the manufacturing sector were allowed to work?

“If there was a need to make sacrifices, wouldn’t all the sectors do it together so that the lockdown didn’t drag for three months?” he asked.

He added that many lives were lost at the expense of ensuring the manufacturing industry was allowed to operate.

“Well done to the factories and the government for your achievement,” he said sarcastically.

The government imposed a full lockdown on June 1 in an attempt to bring down the number of daily infections.

Under the lockdown, non-essential sectors were not allowed to operate.

Despite the lockdown, Malaysia has continued to record infections above 15,000. Today, 19,991 Covid-19 cases were reported. – August 10, 2021.