Businesses will need help post-flood recovery

SHAH ALAM - Businesses affected by the floods would need assistance once things are stabilised, experts say.

Universiti Kuala Lumpur Business School economic analyst, Professor Dr Aimi Abdul Rashid feared that the economic impact of small and medium enterprises post-floods as many were still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic and continuous lockdowns.

He said although some of the affected businesses would be able to claim insurance coverage for damages obtained by the floods, the same cannot be said for the small businesses.

“Large corporations like Giant Hypermarket would likely be able to claim insurance but the same cannot be said for many micro and small businesses that are just about to recover from the pandemic,” he told Sinar Daily.

He said the whole value chain of the businesses could collapse if the creditors refuse to postpone the credit payments and provide additional credits to their retailers.

“If that happens, then it will have a big impact including unemployment and inflation in the future,” he said.

He said the authorities must work together in order to assist the flood victims, especially those living in low laying areas.

He said that the livelihoods of the victims were greatly affected especially considering that the majority of the flooded areas such as Taman Sri Muda and Klang Valley were occupied by the bottom 40 per cent B40 and middle-income group M40 segments.

“The flood situation certainly compounded the grave economic state that they are in, those who were operating hawkers stall and small businesses were among those severely affected, while those who are employed had to seek the sympathy and apathy of their respective employers to get a break from work,” he said.

University Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK) Adjunct Professor Dr. Zulkiply Omar alluded similar sentiments, stating that businesses and shops affected would need to cover the cost of damage and goods.

The government, he said, needed to provide short-term solutions to help the the businesses including hawkers and micro enterprises to recover their economic status.

“As we can see for the Giant Section 13 supermarket in Shah Alam and many other businesses were affected, there needs to be an emergency support package given by the government,” he said.