No export of masks from Malaysia.
About 10 million masks will be imported from China and will be distributed to all Malaysians who need it, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced today.
He said this decision was made during a National Security Council (NSC) meeting yesterday and he had instructed the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) to use its allocation provided by the government to fund this.
“The price for one mask is about RM1.18 sen each and when the masks arrive, I’d like to announce that they will be distributed for free to all Malaysians who need it,” he told a press conference at the Perdana Putra building.
He said the supply of mask is part of the agreement between Malaysia and China.
The Transport Ministry is in the process of bringing in the item, he added.
It is understood this order differs from the recently announced batch of 10 million face masks currently being shipped from China meant for the Health Ministry front liners.
Muhyiddin today explained that local manufacturers were currently facing shortages in raw materials needed to make the face masks, most of which are sourced from suppliers overseas.
He said efforts have been put in place to address this issue, saying local manufacturers are said to be able to supply from two to three million masks a month when operating within normal conditions.
“We hope the issue (of shortages) can be solved and if that can be achieved, the capacity of the production of face masks locally, I have been told is around two to three million a month.
“If that can be achieved, I think the suppler here will be in abundance.
“There will be no export of masks from Malaysia. It is totally banned,” he said.
The prime minister added that discussions between the government and stakeholders to set the ceiling price of face masks at a reasonable value are being conducted by the relevant ministries, namely the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs.
“We hope parties involved, such as the manufacturing factories will decide that sufficient supply is prioritised and set a price that is reasonable.
“Those are my instructions and I hope that the factories and manufacturers will agree with the appeal of the responsible ministries so that the price that is set is a reasonable one,” he said.
Meanwhile, there is no free Covid-19 testing for foreign workers and foreigners.
“If they go to the general hospitals, there’s still a cost, although it is subsidised.”
“As such, they would have to pay for it,” he added.
“But we hope that employers will advise them accordingly to get tested,” said Muhyiddin.
The prime minister was responding to a question on whether there was free testing for foreign workers.
On the RM500 to RM700 charged by private hospitals for Covid-19 testing, Muhyiddin said it was reasonable.
“At public hospitals, it’s around RM700 each, too. But we hope that private hospitals will not overcharge as it should do its social responsibility in this time of emergency.”