Johor groups hope for incentives and subsidies in Budget 2019

Improvement in connectivity and accessibility at the Johor Causeway will benefit both Johor and Singapore. P. Sivakumar

JOHOR BARU: The federal government should come up with incentives to ease the burden of doing business in the upcoming Budget 2019.

Johor Indian Business Association president P. Sivakumar urged the government to reintroduce several subsidies, which were abolished by the previous administration.

He said financial allocations for the education and health sectors should be increased to provide better education opportunities and health services, especially for the low income group.

“Give more funding for technical and vocational education and training to produce more skilled workers and to reduce our dependency on foreign workers,” said Sivakumar.

He said the government should stimulate the domestic economy by building more hospitals and schools, especially in less developed states such as Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak.

Sivakumar also hoped that the government could speed up the Johor BaruSingapore Rapid Transit Link System project to ease congestion at the Johor Causeway.

“Improvement in connectivity and accessibility at the Johor Causeway will benefit both Johor and Singapore,” he said.

Johor Baru Bus Operators Association president Datuk Suchdav Jotistrop hoped the government would consider reducing toll charges for stage and express buses, and diesel price.

“A reduction in toll rates and diesel will help to reduce our operating cost,” he said.

Suchdav said the move would compensate bus operators, who were not allowed to increase their fares since 2008, although prices of spare parts and diesel had gone up over the years.

He said the government should also look into exempting operators from paying 10% tax on new bus bodies.

Johor Consumers Movement Association president Md Salleh Sadijo said the government could work closely with nongovernmental organisations for a better Malaysia.

He said many of the NGOs, including consumer and environmentrelated groups, hardly received financial assistance from the previous government at the federal and state levels.

“We have to dig deep into our own pockets to organise activities and programmes on consumerism and environmental awareness or work together with private companies,” said Md Salleh.