Feature Stories

Providing Support Against the COVID-19 Pandemic

People    29 October 2021


The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new and unprecedented challenges as many countries grapple with lockdowns of varying degrees imposed by governments and municipalities. In line with United Nations SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-being, YTL Group’s priority throughout the pandemic has been to protect our people, whilst continuing to support the needs of customers and communities. We responded swiftly by ensuring that the health, safety and well-being of employees is taken care of, placing appropriate safety and hygiene measures in place to protect our customers whilst dedicating resources to help vulnerable communities to overcome critical challenges.

Protecting Our Employees

To address the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, global and local guidance on how to adapt to the new normal and how to ensure that hygiene and social distancing measures are effectively enforced were published along with safety measures at the workplace such as:

Temperature screening and sanitiser stations for employees, contractors and visitors to buildings and at site entrances and exits Reminders and tips on observing good personal hygiene at home and work, maintaining healthy eating and exercise habits through the Monday Memo and internal newsletter
Frequent sanitisation at common working areas, particularly high-touch surfaces Digitisation processes during Movement Control Order (MCO) to improve effectiveness and efficiencies of work routines whilst staff work from home
Flexible work arrangements for employees who need to balance their family and professional responsibilities A day off for employees receiving COVID-19 vaccinations
Distribution of COVID-19 kits including face masks, hand sanitisers, disinfectants and other personal protective equipment to employees

Note: Certain safety measures are only applicable to selected business units.


Supporting Local Communities

YTL Group continues to dedicate resources to help those in need by continuing to provide financial aid. A total of RM286 million has been disbursed to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020. Some of the initiatives include the following:

  • YTL Foundation donated RM1 million to the Government’s COVID-19 Fund.
  • YTL Power International contributed RM500,000 to The Edge COVID-19 Equipment Fund.
  • YTL PowerSeraya contributed SGD10,000 to the Majurity Trust’s COVID-19 relief fund offering assistance to Malaysians stuck in Singapore during the pandemic.
  • A total of 100,000 smartphones, 450,000 SIM cards and 18 million gigabytes of free data has been delivered to students through the Learn From Home initiative and 311,640 smartphones with 12-month free data plans have been delivered to B40 families under Jaringan Prihatin Programme.
  • Through YTL Cement’s BUILDS, 7,000 COVID-19 Care Kits and school sanitation supplies were donated to 24 schools across Peninsular Malaysia.
  • YTL Construction, together with their employees have donated PPE and meals, valued at RM20,000 to 200 frontliners at the Duchess of Kent Hospital, Sandakan to help ease their financial burden.

Ensuring Health and Safety of Our Customers

Various safety and hygiene measures and standard operating procedures are in place across our properties and operations to minimise the risk of infection or transmission including the installation of public hand sanitiser stations, air cleaning system equipped with photo-catalytic oxidation (PCO) and ultraviolet wavelength (UVC), periodical sanitisation of high-touch points, social distancing posters, signage and floor decals to remind shoppers to keep a safe distance.

Apart from that, Wessex Water has provided extra support for their customers in vulnerable circumstances or those who have been financially affected by the pandemic. Through their Tailored Assistance Programme, over 15,000 customers receive discounts of up to 90% through the “Assist” tariff. More than 22,000 low-income pensioners are given support with at least GBP60 off their bills. In addition, the company launched a GBP50 rebate on metered bills for National Health Service (NHS) frontline workers to cover the cost of additional uniform washing, benefiting 14,500 customers.