Saturday October 17, 2009

Reduce Federal aid to Pakatan state govts, go straight to rakyat

By ZULKIFLI ABD RAHMAN

KUALA LUMPUR: Federal aid to the governments of opposition-ruled states should be reduced and be channelled directly to the people there, Selangor delegate Abdul Shukur Idrus said.

He said this was because opposition parties were getting mileage out of the socio-economic programmes in these states.

Abdul Shukur said the Pakatan Rakyat-ruled Selangor government gave RM1,000 to finance funeral arrangements to the people in the state while Umno provided RM300.

“The state government also provided RM1,500 to the elderly. The people in the state are talking about the opposition government giving aid to the people.

“Little do the people know that what the opposition government is giving comes from the Barisan Nasional Federal government,” he claimed when debating the president’s policy speech at the Umno General Assembly here on Friday.

Abdul Shukur said the Federal Government should reduce payments to the opposition state governments so that the people there could see which party provided greater assistance.

Johor delegate Samsol Bari Jamali meanwhile called on Umno to stem the erosion of support from the Malays to the party.

He said Umno’s spirit of compromise and fairness for all races had created dissatisfaction among the Malays.

“This negative feeling was exacerbated by the divisive politics generated by the opposition parties to create hatred among the people for Umno,” he added.

Samsol Bari suggested that the Government implement the life quality index introduced by the Economic Planning Unit to help identify and help poor Malays.

“This method will enable Umno to provide proper and equitable assistance to the Malays,” he added.

More News