Allocation for basic necessities reduced, claims DAPSY

KOTA KINABALU: Allocation for a lot of basic necessities for the people has been reduced despite a higher Budget 2018, claimed Democratic Action Party Socialist Youth (DAPSY) national chief Wong Kah Woh.

Kah Woh said the budget marked an increase of RM19.45 billion from RM260.8 billion in 2017 to RM280.25 billion in 2018.

“While we see that the total budget has increased, expenses for basic necessities has been reduced.”

For instance, he said, budget for the supply of medication has been reduced by RM65 million in Budget 2018.

“This will affect a lot of poor people who cannot afford high medication bills. This is not something that a good, responsible government would do, whereby they increase the overall budget but decrease the budget for basic necessities of the people,” he said.

Additionally, Kah Woh said, for the first time in history, the Malaysian government would be paying more than RM30 billion, or RM30.88 billion, to be exact, for interest accrued due to the national debt.

“In other words, every Malaysian has to bear RM1,000 for interest of the national debt next year,” he claimed.