Building owners asked to be lenient on MSMEs

THE Micro Small Medium Enterprise (MSME) Council is calling on service providers, such as landlords to be lenient on MSMEs.
President Desmond Yaninen said MSMEs should not be kicked out or asked to pay their full rentals because the Covid-19 had disrupted their ability to operate on full capacity.
Yaninen said with the economic growth forecasted at one per cent for this year, it is important for all businesses to support each other and work together until things get back to normal.
“A lot of SMEs are struggling with the rentals,” he said.
“Certainly with the lockdown period, no one was going to work, if you rented a shop, no one was coming to the shop.”
“This is common throughout the country and SMEs are saying that we are struggling to pay our rent.
“We are asking if the government can ask the landlords to be lenient on us. For the landlords, it should be a simple decision from you,” he said.
Yaninen said if SMEs have been faithfully paying their rent and all of a sudden cannot because of the current Covid-19 situation, landlords should not evict them.
“They have a proven track record of paying their rental on time. It is important that landlords realise the plight that SME tenants are going through.
“We all are in this together, if you kick out your SME tenants, where are you going to find new tenants to fill your properties.”
Yaninen thanked the banks for being lenient towards borrowers who have SME loans.