The exemption of goods and services tax (GST) to a corporate giant like China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) which is involved in the RM55 billion East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project is akin to robbing from the poor, while giving away the special privileges to the rich who least need it.
Is Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s, who is also the prime minister, action fair to fellow Malaysians who are clearly marginalised by the double standards he practises?
While a foreign owned company is given zero GST status, why does the Barisan Nasional (BN) regime not take care for our own people first, by granting zero GST to those who are in any of these eight categories:– the bankrupts, PTPTN loan defaulters, students, the disabled (OKU), minimum wage earners, single parents, senior citizens and retirees?
The money collected from the GST could have been used to provide a lot of scholarships for young Malaysians or helped single parents to generate new income streams. It could also be used to provide better facilities for the disabled people in this country or help to lessen the burden of single parents.
Has Najib abandoned his 1Malaysia slogan, “Rakyat didahulukan, pencapaian diutamakan” (1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now)? Does he no longer seek to fulfil his promises by putting the people first until every time there is a general election?
The people who are in any one of the eight categories are most deserving of zero GST, but nothing was done to exempt them from the GST. It is time for them, and their representatives, to speak up on their behalf and demand Najib and his caretaker cabinet ministers for an answer before the nomination day, failing which they would certainly know who to vote come the polling day.
By giving the exemption on GST, what has that to do with reducing the cost of the ECRL project, since the prices would have been quoted much earlier? If the project is worth RM55 billion, by granting exemption of GST, would it not mean that the profit margin for CCCC is increased rather than reducing the cost of construction that would benefit the people of this country?
Najib should immediately provide a full report on the project and its costs. By now, Najib should realise that the implementation of the GST would most definitely raise the cost of any projects, and not only the ECRL.
This is contrary to the earlier suggestion by Najib’s own administration that the prices of goods and services would go down after the implementation of the GST.