Najib Razak today reminded the people not to be taken in by the small handouts from the opposition that they forget about the RM22 billion that the Barisan Nasional government had forked out in various subsidies and incentives this year.

umno agm egm 151009 najib inspect delegates line up 01 The prime minister said that for decades the government helmed by Umno had taken various initiatives by giving subsidies, incentives and aid to reduce the people's burden.

"So, don't be awe-struck and mesmerised by the opposition just because of free water and a little increase in allowance. At least remember the Umno-led government's deeds for decades.

"People said don't forget the rain of a year just because of a day's drought," the Umno president said in his maiden speech at the Umno general assembly here.

He said that whether the people realised it or not, the government had done a lot for their well-being.

"For example, in the transportation and energy sector, the government has provided RM9 billion for petrol, LPG and diesel subsidies, RM2 billion for the cash rebate programme, over RM600 million for toll compensation, RM150 million for electricity rates and RM45 million more for rural air transportation and east coast rail," he said.

Najib said all this showed that the government emphatised not only with the rural folk but also those in the towns because there were still some who lived from hand to mouth.

Billions in aid and subsidies

In essence, the people felt relieved that they are not alone in their struggle to pay for food and clothes, the rent, milk and diapers for their children and their daily transportation expenses, he said.

In the agricultural and food sector, he said, the government had allocated nearly RM600 million for padi subsidies, RM400 million (rice), RM275 million (fertilisers), RM210 million for wheat flour and RM89 million for bread.

For the education of future generations, he said RM2 billion had been disbursed in the form of aid for schoolchildren, especially those under the poor students project, RM411 million for aid for tertiary students, RM374 million for teachers and supervisors of religious and ‘fardu ain’ (Kafa) classes and ‘takmir’ teachers including imam and village heads.

Besides that, he said, the government had also allocated RM159 million for pre-schoolchildren and RM36 million for orang asli communities.

The government had also not forgotten poor families, the disabled, senior citizens when it allocated RM850 million to set up a safety net for them.

He added that from November 1997 to August 2009, the government, through the National Higher Education Fund Corporation, disbursed over RM19 billion to 1.4 million students of public and private institutions of higher learning at low interest rates.

- Bernama