Tuesday June 10, 2008

10% cut in allowance not good enough, say NGOs

PETALING JAYA: Just slashing 10% of the ministers' entertainment allowance and cutting down on their paid holidays is not enough.

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said the Government needed to do more to save money.

“Wherever the Government can save, they have to save,” said National Consumer Complaints Centre director Darshan Singh.

He said the Government, which had always advised the people to be prudent and to change their lifestyle in view of rising inflation rates, should “lead by example”.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday announced a 10% slash in ministers' entertainment allowance and limiting their paid holidays to Asean and local destinations, as part of measures to save the Government RM2bil.

Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) president S.M. Mohamed Idris said while the Government’s move was a good start, more could be done.

Mohamed Idris said he hoped the money saved would be used to help the lower income groups.

“We strongly feel that the money should go towards upgrading public transportation and building low-cost housing,” he said.

He added that house prices would go up with the recent petrol price hike because the cost of building materials would also increase.

Malaysian Youth Council secretary-general Tajudin Ahmad lauded the Government’s move and said the more important issue was how the savings would be channelled to the people.

“The money could be channelled to public transportation as fuel is expensive now.

“The Government should also build more Liquefied Natural Gas (LPG) pumps as we are a major producer, and all Government cars should be converted to run on LPG,” he said.