Reconsider water tariff hike: Chin
Published on: Saturday, April 25, 2015
Kuala Lumpur: Senator Datuk Chin Su Phin has called on the Federal Government to negotiate with the Sabah State government to reconsider the increase in water tariff as the hike has had a great impact on traders and the people. Chin said the hike in water tariff was not suitable at this time when the people were feeling the pinch from the increase in prices of goods following the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). He said the new water tariff would have a significant impact on businesses that used large quantities of water, especially restaurants.
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Businesses will subsequently pass on the costs to customers with higher food prices and customers are bound to blame the government for implementing GST even though the new tax regime may not be the causal factor, he said. He was ebating the Supplementary Supply (2014) Bill 2015 at the Dewan Negara sitting here. On the other hand, Chin also proposed to the government to use the revenue collected from GST to ease the burden of people, such as by lowering electricity and water tariffs, eliminating or reducing the rate of tolls.He said the revenue should not merely be used on physical projects, but also to reduce the expenses of the people.
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Chin believed that such action would help reduce the people's anxiety about GST as well as regain the people's support for the government. During the debate, Chin also asked the government to explain the additional RM 1.75 billion to cover the retirement benefits for retired civil servants when an allocation of RM500 million had been approved during the tabling of the supplementary budget in the previous session.
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Chin also asked the Minister of Education about the additional RM428 million of emoluments for civil servants while other ministries have not requested additional financial assistance for the purpose. He further sought the latest information on the country's economy last year, the actual expenditures for 2014, the value of Gross Domestic Product, the national current account, national debt, fiscal deficit, service rate and our repayment ability. He claimed that the prices of many goods have inflated by 20 to 30 per cent since the implementation of GST on April 1. Chin said if the prices did not come down in the next three months, the poor would suffer and this could potentially lead to social problems. Chin, who is also Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Deputy President, urged the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism (KPDNKK) to monitor the increase of prices in restaurants and check if the premises were registered with GST. "People are wondering why the restaurants are increasing their prices when basic goods such as meat, chicken and so on are not subjected to GST."Chin pointed out that a plate of cockles previously sold at RM3 has been increased to RM7.50, whereas the price of fish head curry has soared more than 100 per cent from RM35 to RM80. "I recall the Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan who said last May that only 10 per cent of the goods would become more expensive after the implementation of GST, while prices for 48 per cent of the goods would remain unchanged and 42 per cent would be cheaper. "He (Ahmad) said again this January that the government expected nearly 54 per cent of the goods would become cheaper. "None of these predictions came true."According to a survey conducted by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca), Chin said the prices of some goods were 20 to 30 per cent higher than the reference price of the government. He said many vendors and hawkers have raised their prices by over six per cent due to higher costs. "Previously, the government had thought that prices would drop by four per cent with the introduction of six per cent GST to replace the 10 per cent sales tax. "But the reality is very different," Chin said. The fact is that many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are unfamiliar with sales tax refund due to its complicated procedures, therefore they pass on the overhead costs to end users, he said. He went on to say that the prices of electrical appliances were expected to fall, but the outcome turned out to be the opposite. "Indeed, certain items such as cars have become cheaper, but how often do people replace their cars?"Chin said that many people were blaming the government because of their lack of understanding of GST. For example, he said many shops have boycotted the sale of prepaid cards because the issue of imposing GST on prepaid cards has caused so much confusion, as well as the 10 per cent service charge collected by hotels and food and beverage (F&B) outlets that has been practised without any problems until the GST was introduced. While the government's intention to abolish the 10 per cent service charge is good, Chin said the administration should keep in mind that more than 100,000 waiters in the country earning between RM350 and RM1,200 a month on average are reliant on service charge. "The government has an obligation to take care of their (waiters') welfare."Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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