PUTRAJAYA: A more efficient public transport system will be among the main thrusts of Budget 2009, with the Government providing new incentives, allocations and assistance to the sector. Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said these incentives would also be incorporated into future Budgets. “Malaysians can certainly look forward to better public transport. This will be a major focus of next year’s Budget, which we are currently preparing,” he told reporters after attending a closed-door 2009 Budget Consultation Dialogue with backbenchers here yesterday. “We will be improving public transport not only in Kuala Lumpur but also in other areas. We will look into how we can encourage more people to use public transport by offering them incentives.” The dialogue, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was also attended by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Amirsham Aziz and Backbenchers Club chairman Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.
Nor Mohamed said the number of people using public transport in the country was a relatively low 20%. In developed countries the percentage is between 50% and 70%. “We hope to double the figure to 40% in the next five years, but we need to come up with a plan to encourage more people to use public transport,” he said. On another matter, Nor Mohamed said the Government would have to pay RM33bil to oil companies this year if the oil subsidy was not restructured. “We estimated our revenue at RM147bil, of which RM33bil will have to be given to oil companies so that they can sell fuel at the pumps at a low price,” he said.
He said that even after the subsidy restructure, the Government would still have to fork out an estimated RM10bil in petrol subsidy from June till December, while for the first five months of 2008, it was RM8bil.
“We will now have to make an adjustment to the subsidy amount that we have to fork out following the (Cabinet) decision (on Wednesday) to not increase the price of fuel for the rest of the year,” he added.
This latest decision came on top of various measures the Government announced on Monday aimed at cutting costs and channelling more subsidies to low-income earners. The current price of petrol is RM2.70 per litre, and diesel RM2.58, after the 78 sen and RM1 a litre hike last week.
Nor Mohamed also said there were proposals to lower this year’s income tax so that the public would have more cash in hand, but this needed to be looked into before a decision could be taken. As it is, he said the starting point for taxable income was already high. A non-married individual need only pay income tax if his or her monthly income was above RM2,950, and a married worker, above RM3,200. “Of the 10.5 million workers, only one million pay tax. Of that figure, only 38,000 individuals are taxed at 28%, the highest level,” he said, adding that revenue from income tax amounted to RM10bil.
== my take ==
Yeah, yeah, we've heard that promises before, better tranportation system konon! The joke is that, and to ask them, when was the last time they use all the public transport to work for at least 5 consecutive days?
Janji bohong, janji tipu
Omong kosong muka tak tahu malu
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