‘20 pct electricity rebate actually federal govt policy’
Despite the review of the rebate policy by the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led federal government, the Sarawak government still maintains the reduced electricity tariffs announced by Pehin Sri Adenan Satem.
KUCHING: The Sarawak government did not revoke the RM20 electricity rebate, which had benefitted thousands of Sarawakians since January 2015.
Moreover, these thousands of Sarawakians would not have access to the good policy if the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem had not announced the reduction in electricity tariffs on November 2014 when he was Sarawak’s fifth chief minister.
In stating this, political secretary to the chief minister Michael Tiang said the RM20 electricity rebate was actually a federal government policy, implemented by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in 2008.
“All those who have been enjoying the rebate, would have seen the statement ‘dibiayai oleh kerajaan Malaysia’ (funded by the government of Malaysia) on their electricity bills.
“It does not say ‘ funded by the Sarawak government’, because what Pehin Sri Adenan Satem did was lower the electricity tariffs for more Sarawakians to enjoy the rebate.
“And from the Budget Speech tabled in November 2014, he (Adenan) said 60,000 more Sarawakians would join the
Michael Tiang, chief minister political secretary
then- existing 70,000 Sarawakians who were already enjoying the RM20 electricity rebate.
“Despite the review of the rebate policy by the Pakatan Harapan ( PH)-led federal government, the Sarawak government still maintains the reduced electricity tariffs announced by Pehin Sri Adenan Satem,” he told The Borneo Post here yesterday when prompted for comments regarding a statement by Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen, who on Thursday said the Sarawak government should complement the federal government’s RM40 electricity rebate by continuing the RM20 electricity rebate implemented by Adenan.
Tiang, who is also Sarawak United People’s Party ( SUPP) Youth chief, pointed out that at first glance, the reviewed RM40 electricity rebate sounded like a great deal, given the two- fold amount.
However upon further observation, he also noted that the reviewed policy would only benefit individuals registered under the e-Kasih system.
He argued that with the increase in minimum wage beginning next year, how many individuals from poor households would still be eligible for the welfare assistance.
“If I’m not mistaken, one of the criteria for registration under e- Kasih is ( earning a monthly) income of RM1,000, or below. The minimum wage will be increased to RM1,100 next year.
“The number of e- Kasih recipients is bound to be much les, even though the federal government announced earlier that 185,000 households would benefit from the RM40 electricity rebate,” he said, adding that he could not help but wonder what had happened to the PH government’s biggest promise of lowering the cost of living for the people.
Tiang pointed out that the RM40 electricity rebate would not benefit a lot of Sarawakians, and it also would not be helpful towards achieving the goal of lowering the cost of living.
“Prior to the review, some 130,000 Sarawakians are enjoying the RM20 electricity rebate. The Sarawak government has done its part to help the Sarawakians by lowering the electricity tariffs and now, maintaining the reduced electricity tariffs.
“The federal government should be more helpful in this, rather than implement the RM40 electricity rebate that would see less people qualify for it.
“I hope the federal government would do something about this, especially for Sarawakians because not being able to enjoy the rebate is definitely not what the people want from the federal government,” he stressed.