Najib orders less protocol for VIP events
Published on: Saturday, February 04, 2017
Selangor: The government is to adopt two new approaches to endear itself to the people, one of which is do away with protocol when leaders meet the people.The other is to switch bulk aid or subsidy to targeted assistance or subsidy. Prime Minister Najib Razak said targeted assistance or subsidy would ensure that aid for the people reached the groups that needed help.Wastage and leakage occurred in the implementation of bulk subsidy because foreigners and tourists also enjoyed the aid, he said. Najib announced this when launching the "Jom Bantu Rakyat Kuala Selangor" (Let's Help Kuala Selangor Folk) programme at Sekolah Kebangsaan Ijok in Bestari Jaya here.
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"Bulk aid or bulk subsidy results in much leakage and injustice. Who benefits from fuel subsidies? Those who own big cars benefit more, the tourists benefit, the migrant workers benefit," he said.Najib said whatever the government could save from the fuel subsidy could be used to provide other targeted subsidies for the people.On the second approach, the Barisan Nasional chairman said the government opted for its leaders to interact with the people without being bound by strict protocol as in the past.
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"Even today (during the visit to Sekolah Kebangsaan Ijok), I was welcomed by the people, not with the red carpet and 'bunga manggar' protocol but the sincere enthusiasm of the people. This is what I prefer, the sincere welcome of the people," he said.Najib hit out at the opposition for criticising the government every time fuel prices went up when the rise was actually determined by market forces.
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He said they chose to remain silent when the government was able to help raise the price of palm oil to RM3,300 per tonne.He said the rise in the price of palm oil was the result of his visit to China in October last year after China agreed to increase the purchase of the commodity from Malaysia."The price of palm oil rose to RM3,300 per tonne, the price of rubber also tripled. I enquired about this from a retired teacher who has 4ha of oil palm. He is now earning RM4,000 net a month," he said.Najib also announced an allocation of RM1.5 million to develop the Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia jetty in Kampung Sungai Sembilang as a major agro-tourism hub for the country.Kuala Selangor had huge potential for agro-tourism. This could greatly benefit not only the fishermen there but the constituents as well, he said."We have to change our mindset to rejuvenate our area. For example, I have provided an allocation of RM1.5 million to develop the Sungai Sembilang jetty as a fishermen's hub. The fishermen can sell their catch instead of going through middlemen."This will double the income of the fishermen," he said.At the event, Najib also launched a National Transformation 2050 (TN50) monument at Sekolah Kebangsaan Ijok as a gesture symbolising the government's vision for the next 30 years.Najib also said the World Bank's study that recognised the financial aid given for family welfare was among the reasons that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad made a "U-turn" in his statement on the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) implemented by the government.He said that Dr Mahathir already knew that studies by researchers from the World Bank and Stanford proved that financial aid given directly usually were spent in a prudent manner such as for family welfare and did not make them lazy as claimed."Financial aid such as the BR1M was introduced to assist the low-income group in easing their cost of living burden," said Najib.This factor, said Najib, was among the four reasons why Dr Mahathir, who had frequently described BR1M as "fodder" previously, was making a u-turn by saying that the opposition would continue with the BR1M payment if it were to rule the country.The second, said Najib, was because such financial assistance were also widely adopted in countries elsewhere and recognised by economic experts as a catalyst in boosting the economy."Thirdly, financial aid is also implemented by friends of old leaders such as the Selangor Menteri Besar (Datuk Seri Mohamed) Azmin Ali who gave out financial aid for school admission for Selangor-born residents and Lim Guan Eng who paid out financial aid for poor people in Penang."Fourthly, BR1M is given to the low-income group regardless of their political ideology. We don't ask them to vote for the Barisan Nasional, unlike the Azmin Ali coupons which had his face printed on the cash coupon. In fact, it is the Selangor state government that gives out a lot of financial incentives," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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