The government should concentrate on plugging leakages, wastage and financial wrongdoings that have incurred the country a loss of RM6.5 billion the past year, a DAP parliamentarian says.

It should focus on this area, rather than be concerned with the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), which will only earn the government a nett revenue of RM690 million, Stampin MP Julian Tan said today.

“Even if the government achieves half its target of reducing leakages and wastage, it will still earn an income of more than RM3 billion, which is much better than RM690 million,” Tan said of the 2015 Budget Prime Minister and Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak presented last Friday.

In the meantime, the government should not withdraw fuel subsidies, he said, for doing so would not just burden the rakyat but also have a domino effect on the people in the rural areas of Sarawak.

Najib said the implementation of the GST would give the government a revenue of RM23.2 billion, and as a ‘caring government’ it has exempted several goods from GST and this amounted to RM3.8 billion.

Najib also said that with the implementation of the GST, the sales and service tax would be abolished, resulting in revenue foregone of RM13.8 billion. This meant that after deducting RM13.8 billion and RM3.8 billion from the revenue of RM23.2 billion, the government would have a balance of RM5.6 billion.

'RM4.9 billion to go back to the rakyat'

Of this total, RM4.9 billion would be channelled back to the rakyat through assistance programmes such as in 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BRIM).

Tan (right) said: “The budget should be to cut down the burden of the rakyat, since the prime minister said that it was a people-centric budget.

“However, does Najib really understand what the rakyat understand?

“Everybody knows that our country is rich with resources, be it human or natural resources, but our problems lie with the excesses, wastage and financial wrongdoings as exposed in the auditor-general’s reports presented year after year.

“And, year after year, the prime minister missed the mark by not addressing the core problems of wastage, leakages and financial wrongdoings in a tangible, measurable and quantifiable manner,” he said.

Tan also noted that an estimated RM6.5 billion was involved in the 54 cases of questionable dealings in federal government agencies studied under the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report.


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