PM: Taking Selangor govt to court an option
KUCHI NG: T he fe de r a l government may take Selangor state government to court if the latter proceeds with its plan to boycott all federal projects.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said boycotting projects will only deprived the people of developments.
“Their action will not only disrupt development in Selangor but most importantly is that the people will be at the disadvantage and at the losing end,” he said.
Najib, who was on a working visit to the state since Wednesday, stated this when asked to comment on the decision by the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government at a media conference here yesterday.
“We will discuss about this to decide on our next course of action which may include applying for court order,” he said.
On a separate matter he said PAS Spiritual Leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat was insulting the rakyat when he described the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) as chicken feed. “It is an insult to the people because BR1M is just like what is being practiced in some other countries. Singapore, for instance, credits it into the recipients’ accounts. In Indonesia they also have direct aid to help the people,” he said.
Therefore, he said, what Nik Aziz said about the BR1M was an insult to the people and “was too much”.
“BR1Mis, infact, tohelpthepeople. Before, we introduced indirect subsidies such as subsidised petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). We also give subsidies for commodities such as rice, flour, sugar and many more. The subsidies we give involved big sum, about RM30 billion annually, more or less, but this had led to smuggling out of the goods across the border. So we decided to be more specific in providing assistance which is in the form of BR1M,” he stressed.
He said the financial aid of RM500 for eligible families in turn will help stimulate the economic activities domestically where the sundry shop operators can make better business as the rakyat have the rights to decide how to spend the money.