‘Tackle economy first’

Business activities in Johor Baru city centre came to a halt during the movement control order in June last year. — Filepic

JOHOR-based business groups are hoping that once the new state government has been formed next month, it will give priority to economic recovery and the people’s well-being.

Johor Indian Petty Traders and Small Business Association (Jipta) chairman D. Ravindran said this was important as the economy had been badly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and various movement control orders.

He reminded elected lawmakers that regardless of their political parties, they should put the people’s interests first and serve Johoreans wholeheartedly.

“We need the new state administration take Johor to the next level in the next five years,’’ Ravindran said when contacted.

He said the last two years had been most challenging for small businesses due to the pandemic.

“At the same time, the political instability at the federal level impacted the nation.”

He said Johor had never witnessed having three Mentri Besar within two years.

Kempas assemblyman Datuk Osman Sapian from Bersatu served as the 16th Mentri Besar from May 2018 until his resignation in April 2019.

His successor Bukit Kepong assemblyman Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal, also from Bersatu, took over as the 17th Mentri Besar from April 2019 until the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan state administration in February 2020.

Caretaker Mentri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad from Umno and Benut assemblyman took office in February 2020 until the Johor state assembly was dissolved on Jan 23.

“We do not want to see a repeat of the same episode (the changing of Mentri Besar) after the state election,’’ Ravindran said.

Johor South SME Association adviser Teh Kee Sin also expressed his concern over the political instability in the state.

“Having three Mentri Besar within two years has created a lot of trouble for the business sector.”

Teh said the business communty had no time to build rapport with the state government and give feedback on how to boost Johor’s economy

He said Johor was always in the top three spots for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country in the past 20 years but the state’s position had deteriorated recently.

“It is not good for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as we are playing supporting roles for the multinational companies and having less FDI flowing into Johor will impact our operations,’’ said Teh.

There are 1.5 million SMEs in the country, with 10% or 150,000 located in Johor. Out of that number, half are operating in Johor Baru.

Johor Indian Muslim Entrepreneurs Association (Perusim) secretary Hussein Ibrahim said creating new jobs should be the main focus of the new Johor government.

“At the same time, whoever becomes the next Johor Mentri Besar should play a bigger role to push for the opening of the two land links with Singapore.”

Hussein said opening the Johor Causeway and the Second Link in Tanjung Kupang, Gelang Patah, to those who were not long-term pass holders would bring a positive impact.

He said the Vaccinated Travel Lane-Land (VTL-Land) which was started on Nov 29, 2021, for long-term pass holders had not brought the desired results to the business community.

“As a border city, Johor Baru needs casual visitors and tourists from Singapore,” said Hussein, adding that Johor should have a bigger say in the opening of the two land links.