The Federation of Malaysian Motor Workshop Associations said some members had tried to keep their shops open but decided to close after poor income and the frequent SOPs’ check carried out by “four or five” enforcement agencies.
Its president Khor Kong Siah said there were still hundreds of thousands of vehicles daily on the road and this means there are breakdowns and accidents every day which, he said, makes their service essential.
He said there are an estimated 100,000 motor workshops employing hundreds of thousands of workers in the country, adding that the closures have caused delays to car repairs after accidents.
He urged the National Security Council (MKN) and the international trade and industry ministry (Miti) to review their conditions as workshops were needed by the road users daily.
“Some of our members kept their outlets open hoping to serve customers who needed their service badly but they were harassed by the various SOPs enforcement agencies, sometimes one after another. The worst part is they started finding minor faults and issued summonses,” he told FMT.
Khor said the enforcement agencies included those from ministries such as the home, human resources, health, and domestic trade and consumer affairs. “Then you have the police and Customs departments too.”
Under the current lockdown rules, especially in the major cities, motor workshops can keep their outlets open with a prescribed number of workers and for a specific time period.
Khor said keeping their shops open for the whole day without having enough customers or just to change tyres and batteries will mean heavy losses for the operators with salaries and utility bills being higher than revenue.
“Some of these shops, especially the bigger ones in Penang and Kuala Lumpur pay rentals of RM20,000 a month or more. It is simply not viable,” he said.
Many smaller workshops are struggling to pay salaries even with the wage subsidy from Socso.
Khor said the federation was appealing to the government to allow them to operate fully with strict SOPs.