KOTA KINABALU: The government should look into helping those who fall into the middle income category.
Kulai DAP member of parliament Teo Nie Ching said this in reference to the announcement on the removal of subsidies for bottled cooking oil and the discontinuation of ceiling price controls for chicken and eggs starting next month.
"It is irresponsible for the government to make sudden decisions to remove subsidies for the cooking oil, and the prices of chicken and egg are also going to be affected at the same time. It will have multiplier effects on cost and inflation.
"These are daily items that the people need to buy for their children.
"The prime minister called for an urgent press conference yesterday at 4pm but merely gave a one-off RM100 aid for Bottom 40 households. It is not going to solve the problem," she said at the Sabah DAP headquarters here.
Teo, who is former deputy education minister, added that many people who were in the middle income group had fallen into the B40 group due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said with such a shift, instead of comprising 40 per cent, the B40 group should now have 60 per cent, or B60.
"This group is being left out from the special cash aid. Other than that, the rest of the B40 equally needs help."
Kota Kinabalu member of parliament Chan Foong Hin said the federal government should assist the people of Sabah in addressing the rising costs of living.
He added that the contradicting announcements on million-ringgit worth of free rides for the Klang Valley on June 16 and the subsidies removal yesterday showed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was inconsistent.
"These two announcements show that in his mind, there is no Sabah and Sarawak, or other places other than the Klang Valley because free public transport services are only for Klang Valley Rapid KL users. What do Sabah and Sarawak get?
"In Sabah, we have one more issue — the logistics cost has increased, and our goods depend on imported items as we don't have (many) manufacturing (facilities).
"Sabah relies a lot on shipping to bring in the goods. What action or offer will our prime minister give us?"
Earlier, Sabah DAP said it had just concluded leadership retreats for their members, including the youth.
It also reiterated that Pakatan Harapan's decision to sign the memorandum of understanding with the government was to bring benefit for the people rather than an act of betrayal to anyone.