KUCHING, March 24 — Sarawak Association for People’s Aspiration (SAPA) president Dominique Ng Kim Ho today urged the state government to buy more face masks for free distribution to the people.
He said the two million face masks that the state government has ordered from China are inadequate.
“There are about three million people in the state. So, the two million free face masks would not even be enough for every single Sarawakian,” Ng said when commenting on an announcement by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg yesterday.
According to the chief minister, the face masks, which would cost the state government RM3 million in total, are expected to arrive from China in a week’s time.
Ng said he has been trying to buy face masks since Chinese New Year but has been unsuccessful as pharmacies have run out of supplies.
“We are not asking for free face masks, contrary to what some politicians may think, but we are only asking for face masks to be made available, as cheaply as possible and as soon as possible,” he added.
Ng also said, similarly, the 10 million face masks ordered by the federal government from China are not enough for distribution throughout the country.
“There are at least 30 million Malaysians, not counting the illegals. So, such freebies won’t even solve our need for even a one-time use, let alone the entire period of the movement control order (MCO), and the months thereafter,” he said.
Ng said SAPA opposes any move to raise the price of face masks from 80 sen to RM2 each, saying that a piece of face mask from China could be as cheap as 50 sen.
He said the claim by manufacturers in Malaysia that the cost of raw materials for making face masks has gone up is no excuse to raise prices.
* A previous version of this story contained an error which has since been corrected.
