Since prices of several goods in Sabah were already higher by about 20% compared to the peninsula, consumers here would have to pay more for the GST.
Consumers in smaller towns might have to pay even more due to transportation costs from Kota Kinabalu.
In this regard, he said the government should defer the implementation of the GST until such time prices between the peninsula and Sabah could be standardised.
Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal however disagreed, saying the GST would be in the region of 4%, thus it was far lower than the existing Sales and Service Tax that was between five and 10%.
In addition, GST would not be imposed on basic food items to ensure the poor would not be burdened by it.
The higher prices in Sabah has partly been attributed to the transportation costs of goods from the peninsula where they are either manufactured or imported from another country before being shipped to the state.
The price disparity has been a thorny issue with various leaders pledging to streamline prices between the various regions since the 1990s.
Once again, petrol and sugar prices have increased, and the people have started voicing their dissatisfaction.
ReplyDeleteThe government advises us to change our lifestyles to suit the price hikes of our necessities, yet government officials continue to live the high life.
The government continues to moot building the new palace at an escalated price tag, build the 100-storey Warisan Merdeka tower, and so on, while at the same time the disgruntled voices of the people continue to be ignored.
But in my opinion, we are paying the price for the votes that we cast. It's either we live with these niggling adjustments or we vote the present government out of Putrajaya.
It has been said that Pakatan Rakyat has not proven themselves either, but now it is a question of whether we would like to give the Pakatan a chance to govern or continue casting our votes for a government that makes our lives tougher by the day.
Abstaining from voting the government out is equivalent to voting them into the leadership again.
And we shouldn't stop with our votes alone; the word needs to be spread around among relatives and friends, so that they could do the same.
If we are unable to so, we only have ourselves to blame the next time another price hike comes around.
Nothing to be done about it. Singapore's petrol price is also being raised not long ago.
ReplyDeleteHaven't we got used to Barang Naik?
ReplyDeletebagus potong semua subsidi.. ikut macam negara singapre, indonesia, thailand etc.. kalau rakyat di negara2 jiran boleh hidup tanpa subsidi, kenapa Malaysia tidak..
ReplyDeleteMust be fair for Sabahan with peninsular..like transportation costs of goods from the peninsula where they are either manufactured or imported from another country before being shipped to the state.
ReplyDeleteWe gonna the fact that Sabah has to face this thing.
ReplyDeleteTwo things here, Semenanjung will never be fair to Sabah. Our present YBs only care for themselves. They dare not even said anything about Sabah being treated lauzily. Let Pakatan run the Federal Government and Sabah Party run the State government that is the solution.
ReplyDeleteSabahans are used to these already.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt we will.
ReplyDeleteSabahan sentiasa perlu membayar lebih daripada orang semenanjung.
ReplyDelete