ADK calls on govt. to form economic action plan over virus impact

ADK Trade and Shipping has called for the formulation of an economic action plan to overcome the impact on the economy due to the Covid-19 virus.

A statement issued by the company yesterday read that the company was also suffering the negative consequences just like other companies and called for an action plan to be formed which if not, could cripple companies.

“A situation where the work of a company has to be halted and employees are made redundant may be faced if such an action plan is not formed…companies are working to not cut the wages and allowances of employees at this time, however, the situation has now worsened to a point where the operations of a company have to be halted.” read the statement by the company.

The company also cited that previous High Court rulings that allowed redundancies to be made, after noting that the law did not explicitly state how this can be done.

The government recently announced that the job center established to receive complaints regarding employment due to the virus situation had received 185 job termination cases. 245 complaints regarding no-pay leaves were received while 113 cases of wage cuts were also reported.

The government has also announced an economic stimulus package to assist businesses to overcome the situation with the virus. Loans under the package are only provided to companies and businesses that do not bring any changes to the status of employees.

ADK’s statement called on the Economic Ministry and other institutions to establish a business environment and prioritize reducing the economic damage. An economic solution would be found if a business environment was established which could, in turn, reduce the dependency by individuals and businesses on the government stimulus packages.

The company statement also commended the government’s measures against the spread of the virus which has prevented the disease from spreading to any inhabited island in the country. The ADK Trade and Shipping is involved in logistics operations as well as luxury cruise services and is run under the ADK Group of Companies.