KOTA KINABALU: The channeling of various types of assistance through the Pemerkasa Plus aid package will help the tourism industry in Sabah to survive, said Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Jafry Ariffin.
He said this could be seen from the provisions like the one-off special assistance of RM500 to tour guides, taxi and e-hailing drivers amounting to RM68 million and also the 12-month moratorium on loan repayments to bus and taxi operators.
He said industry players such as hotel operators, travel agencies, shopping malls, convention centres, theme parks and airlines would also benefit from the 10 percent discount on electricity bills for three months as well as from the Wage Subsidy Programme under Socso.
“The Ministry (Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry), will continue to enhance cooperative relations with all tourism industry players and identify other forms of assistance, which may be needed further by the target groups.
“Tourism industry players are urged to persevere in facing the current challenges to break the chain of transmission of the Covid-19 virus by always practising compliance with standard operating procedures (SOP) in daily life,“ he said in a statement here today.
Jafry said the extension until Dec 31 for tourism tax and service tax exemptions on accommodation provided by hotel operators, was also a great step in helping the tourism industry face this challenging period.
On Monday, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced the Pemerkasa Plus aid package amounting to RM40 billion to alleviate the burden of the people and businesses following the country being placed on a total lockdown from June 1-14 due to a surge in Covid-19 cases. — Bernama
