DAP says the raising of sugar prices shows that corporate-centric BN has failed to put people first.
PETALING JAYA: The recent dramatic cut in the sugar subsidy was done to benefit an already rich government-owned sugar company, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said today.He said the RM116.6 million that the government said it would save from the subsidy cut could be readily offset by the RM232 million in profits reported last year by MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd, the sugar refining arm of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Sdn Bhd.
“Instead of doing its corporate social responsibility to help Malaysians, especially the poor, Felda would benefit from the RM116.6 million extra to be paid by Malaysians,” said Lim in a press statement.
MSM accounts for close to 60 % of the refined sugar production in Malaysia and is valued at about RM2.3 billion.
“The BN government can easily transfer this RM116.6 million cost to MSM since it is owned by Felda,” Lim said.
“Instead, in line with BN’s misguided and corporate-centric policy of helping the rich companies at the expense of poor ordinary Malaysians, BN has chosen to hit the pockets of 27 million Malaysians first,” he said.
On May 9, Dosmetic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry secretary-general Mohd Zain Mohd Dom announced a government decision to increase the price of sugar from RM2.10 to RM2.30 a kilogramme as part of the its subsidy rationalisation programme. He said the move would save the government RM116.6 million.
Repeating a call he made last week, Lim urged the government to withhold subsidy cuts on diesel or sugar until it has cut subsidies enjoyed by independent power producers (IPPs).
“BN has not been able to explain why no action has been taken to reduce gas subsidies of RM19 billion annually to IPPs, when it can take action to reduce diesel and gas subsidies of a few hundred million ringgit that hurts ordinary Malaysians,” he said.
“The failure by BN to do so clearly shows that BN is about Barang Naik instead of PR (price reductions),” he said.
