DPM: Cost of living council formed to address people’s welfare
KUALA LUMPUR: The establishment of the National Cost of Living Action Council has nothing to do with the 14th General Election.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said its establishment was due to the need to address the welfare of the people.
“We take a proactive approach and we listen to the problems faced by the people,” he said, adding that this included housing and food.
Zahid said this after chairing a meeting of the council at Parliament.
Present was Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.
Zahid said the council had decided to widen the scope of its clusters by including the health cluster.
“Cost of living does not just include food and housing, but also health.”
He said the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry and other departments and ministries would coordinate their actions.
“This is to ensure that problems (related to cost of living) are not postponed (from being solved) or swept under the carpet,” he said.
Zahid noted that one of the steps taken to resolve cost of living issues was the establishment of the 1Malaysia People’s Shop 2.0.
“We have appointed luminaries from universities and other organisations to share their views in various aspects, not just to tackle the rising cost of living, but also for the long-term planning by the government,” he said.
When asked about Monday’s praise by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V in regard to the government’s initiatives to lessen the people’s burden, Zahid expressed the government’s appreciation.
“However, we must uphold the commitment with follow-up action (policies).”
Zahid said despite the fact that there was no timeframe to implement the health cluster, a meeting to speed up its implementation would be held soon.
He said the result of the meeting would be reported to the cabinet.