STATS DON’T LIE: Tan (left) and Yap looking at the statistics provided by Ministry of Finance.
KUCHING: SUPP Youth is willing to listen to the voices of the people on ways to improve the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M).
Its chief Tan Kai said since BR1M is still a rather new policy, there is room for improvement in many areas.
As such, he pointed out feedback and constructive comments need to be conveyed to the relevant authorities so that this policy will truly benefit the people at the grassroots level.
“BR1M has a clear set of targeted group, with special emphasis on the low income households, single parents and senior citizens.
“Such policy will make sure only those who need it will receive help, unlike the fuel subsidies, whereby even the rich ones can enjoy it, even more than the common folks because firstly, they own more cars and secondly, the luxury cars they own are usually of much higher engine capacity comparing to our motorcycles or national cars,” he said yesterday.
He added that if the country continues to subsidise the rich, which the current fuel subsidy is doing, it will only hinder the government’s effort in cutting the fiscal deficit.
Based on the latest statistic which he managed to get from the Ministry of Finance, he said the total amount of fuel subsidies borne by the government in 2012 alone was a staggering RM24 billion.
“In view of the rampant petrol product smuggling activities in the country, even if smuggled petrol only amounted to a mere 10 per cent of the total amount, it still means the country was facing a RM2.4 billion loss.
“When our subsidised petrol and petrol products were smuggled into neighbouring countries for quick profit, only a handful of sellers and buyers reaped the benefits from the subsidised petrol while that same amount of money lost could have been used to provide aid to the average citizens of Malaysia, particularly those who live around or below the poverty line,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the movement’s secretary general Wilfred Yap also said that after studying the statistics, it was found the number of drivers and vehicles on the street is also on the increase.
According to Ministry of Finance’s statistics, the petrol subsidy given by the government has soared from RM9.6 billion in 2010 to RM24.7 billion in 2012.
He added the retail price of petrol products in Malaysia is the eighth lowest in the world, after major oil-producing countries such as Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Iran and Nigeria, according to a Bloomberg report.
“So whoever that said the government has lowered the amount of petrol subsidy seriously needs to do some homework.”