The Prime Minister’s official residence will go through a RM65 million spruce-up over the next two years, courtesy of premier Najib Abdul Razak’s Budget 2011, revealed a DAP parliamentarian.
Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong said this is part of the RM16 billion budget set aside for the renovation plan, that will be spread out between 2011 and 2012.
“This is not only the highest ever budget, but also the highest ever budget for the Prime Minister’s Department,” he said at a press conference in the parliament lobby after Najib unveiled his Budget 2011 today.
Liew pointed out that this year’s allocation for the Prime Minister’s Department is a good RM4 billion higher than its 2010 budget of RM12 billion.
“In 2007, the Prime Minister’s Department did not even get RM7 billion, but within four years the figure has more than doubled.
“This shows that there is no new mode of thinking for the budget, from which Umno branch leaders will benefit the most,” he said, referring to the hike in monthly allowances for village and JKKK heads, that went up from RM450 to RM800.
Who will benefit?
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng called Najib’s budget for the next year deceptive, branding it an election budget that does not benefit the people.
“It looks like a goodies budget, but who will benefit? The government is going to get more money from this budget, not the rakyat,” he said.
Lim pointed out that a clear example of this is the one percent hike in service tax from five to six percent, that will roughly equate RM759 million in increased revenue for the government from taxes.
He also decried the federal government’s continued neglect of Pakatan Rakyat-held states in this budget, accusing the BN of focussing only on states that the ruling coalition controls.
“We request more focus on Penang, Kelantan, Selangor and Kedah, especially Penang because it contributed one-third of (Malaysia’s) total exports.
“We hope the federal government can focus more on Pakatan states and give us more incentives, because the worry is that our industries could lose in competitiveness,” he said.
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