Association claims building owners, either government or GLCs, still seeking rent

Owners of business premises, either government-owned or government-linked companies, are alleged to still be demanding rent from business owners despite the government announcing incentives to help entrepreneurs tackle the COVID-19 impact.

The matter was revealed by the President of The Young Entrepreneur Organisation Malaysia (GMB), Agil Faisal Ahmad Fadzil, saying the action was against the government's intention to help entrepreneurs.

"There is no mechanism for monitoring this. I do not want to comment on private owners at this stage as I feel that the government and the GLC are compliant with the directives (announced in) the PRIHATIN Package.

"From the feedback we received, one of our members dealing with a government-owned corporation, they have not received any deferment in the premises they are renting on the grounds that they are renting a site, not a commercial property owned by the government," he told Astro AWANI.

The Prime Minister in announcing the additional PRIHATIN Package said that the government would exclude rental payments, or provide rental discounts to SME retail traders, on premises owned by government-linked companies (GLCs).

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin also called on private premises owners to provide the same facilities, reducing their rental rates at least during the period of the Movement Control Order (MCO), and three months after that period ended.

Agil argues that if the owners of government buildings themselves do not comply with the Prime Minister's directive, then it is more difficult to ask the private sector to support this effort.

Therefore, GMB urged owners of both government buildings and GLCs to comply with the government's directive to defer rent payments.

He reiterated that business owners desperately needed this help as they were now facing a very critical cash-flow problem.