Savings From Sugar Subsidy Can Help The Poor, Says Umno Youth

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (Bernama) -- Umno Youth says the estimated savings of RM260 million from subsidising sugar could be managed and distributed through a transparent mechanism to help instead the poor and lower income group of people.
"Any general removal of subsidy should be accompanied by a compensation package or special assistance to the needy group," it said in a statement Monday.
The party also called on the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism to increase the level of monitoring and enforcement to prevent steep price increases in goods as well as the smuggling of goods.
The price of sugar went up 20 sen to RM1.65 per kg in Peninsular Malaysia, and to RM1.75 per kg in Sabah and Sarawak effective January 1.
On the proposed restructuring of petrol subsidy to come into effect May 1 this year, Umno youth said it fully supported the principle of ensuring that only those who qualify for the subsidy get to buy petrol at the subsidised cost.
However, it also expressed concerns that the restructuring of petrol subsidy could bring about several problems.
It would not be completely accurate and fair to measure one's economic capacity based on the size of their vehicle engine capacity as vehicles with higher engine capacity need not be expensive vehicles, it said.
Umno Youth also said that people who own several vehicles would be able to fill up petrol for their cars with smaller engines and later transfer it to the larger cars.
This system of two prices could possibly bring about the resale of petrol from one individual to another and consequently create a black market, it said.
In view of this, Pemuda Umno urged the government to counter the potential problems that could arise from the fuel price restructuring.
Beginning May, petrol will be sold under two different prices. While qualified citizens will pay for subsidised petrol, foreigners will be paying the original cost minus subsidy.
The petrol price for citizens meanwhile will depend on their vehicle's engine capacity and with the use of Mykad.

tunku : we want the government to help the poor and for the education of our children. recently the education ministry has cut down the food budget for those students staying in hostels.they used to enjoy free food for 250 days and now it has been cut down to 200 days. that means the student need to pay on their own for the balance 50 days from this year onwards.for the less income group it will be a burden for them.not only that, the special assistance for the poor students to get free tuition has been cancelled/scaled down too because of the smaller budget to the schools and allowance cut for the teachers.this will make the poor student will get less opportunity to get extra lesson.this is where the government should give assistance and special attention.we hope the government will look into this matter and give extra budget to the schools.we want umno youth to address this issue and help those students to get back what they deserve.

update 14/1/10 : thank you government.