PETALING JAYA: Contradictory statements and poor communication from the government on diesel prices, subsidies and taxes are giving the public headaches, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (pic).
“In December 2022, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the government needed more time to bring down the price of diesel.
“However, the government increased the price of diesel in the end,” said the MCA president.
The government decided to end blanket subsidies for diesel starting this week, which saw its pump price go up to RM3.35 per litre.
However, logistics, public transport, school bus operators and farmers will continue to receive subsidised diesel through the SKDS (Subsidised Diesel Regulation System) 1.0 and 2.0, and Budi Madani schemes.
He said another example was the increase in the sales and services tax rate from 6% to 8% despite the Prime Minister’s statement in February 2023 that the government would not hike taxes.
“In June, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he is not planning to increase the national debt, but the debt increased by another RM129bil within 15 months of the Madani government being in power,” said the Ayer Hitam MP in a Facebook video yesterday.
He also questioned why small businesses needed to apply for the Budi Madani diesel scheme to get the RM200 subsidy.
“In January, Rafizi said the Central Database Hub (Padu) will be the sole database for targeted subsidies, but in May, it was announced that Budi Madani will be the database for this purpose.
“Why the confusion if Padu is already there?
“Why the need for Budi, where personal data has to be filled in all over again?” he questioned.
Another contradiction, he said, was how the government responded to allegations of improper conduct when Asia Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd, which belongs to the husband of a minister, clinched a government contract.
Dr Wee said that Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil had said in May that this was untrue.
“However, two days later, the same minister questioned what is wrong if the company was given a contract if it followed the necessary procedures.
“In short, there has been a slew of U-turns, confusion and contradictory action and statements from the government,” he said.
Meanwhile, MCA vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng said diesel prices should only be allowed to go up gradually instead of having an abrupt end to blanket subsidies that saw prices at the pump shoot up by 55%.
“I call for a halt to this decision. If the government still insists on floating diesel prices, I urge that the government consider gradually reducing subsidies to allow domestic diesel prices to rise slowly.
“This will give the people and businesses enough time to adapt and make the necessary preparations to minimise the harm and impact,” he added.
He also proposed that diesel prices be floated only after enough people have registered for the Budi Madani diesel subsidy programme.
Recently, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan announced that there were 410,000 private car owners, small farmers and smallholders who use diesel, said Jeck Seng.
“However, only 60,000 have applied for the Budi Madani programme, which is only 14.6%,” he said, adding that the RM200 per month to cover the cost of the increased fuel price was barely enough.
