Taxpayers pay RM8,000 a day for PM, DPM’s power bills

BY SYED JAYMAL ZAHIID

OCTOBER 28, 2013

UPDATED: OCTOBER 28, 2013 01:39 PM

Putrajaya spent RM311,174 and RM99,264 respectively for the
prime minister and the deputy prime minister’s water bills.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — Amid Putrajaya’s call for the public to embrace austerity, taxpayers are paying about RM8,500 a day for the power bills of both the prime minister and his deputy, a DAP lawmaker revealed today.

In a written reply to the Seremban MP Anthony Loke, Minister in the Prime Minister Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kasim disclosed that the electricity bill of the prime minister’s official residence cost taxpayers RM2.2 million while the deputy prime minister’s was RM865,458 for 2012.

“That means taxpayers are paying RM8,500 a day for their power bills..how can they tell the people to tighten their belt when they are spending extravagantly,” Loke told reporters in Parliament here.

Shahidan also revealed that for the same year, Putrajaya spent RM311,174 and RM99,264 respectively for the prime minister and the deputy prime minister’s water bills.

In tabling the 2014 Budget last Friday, the prime minister announced plans to implement the goods and services tax (GST) by April 2015 in a move aimed at widening the government’s revenue base and trimming its fast-growing deficit.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also announced a sugar subsidy slash in a move analysts described as the start of more spending cuts anticipated in the near future.

Speaking on this, Najib said it was time the public adjust to austerity as Putrajaya rolls out efforts to “strengthen” Malaysia’s “economic resilience” but the opposition claimed the policies were only aimed at concealing the government’s poor finances.

Loke noted that while the prime minister spoke of austerity, his government seemed to be gaining notoriety for wasting taxpayers’ money and extravagant spending.

He pointed out that Najib’s official residence, the Seri Perdana, was built on 42.5 acres of land while the official deputy prime minister residence, the Seri Satria, was built on 18.6 acres of land.

“Najib’s official house is even bigger than the White House, according to Wikipedia,” the Seremban MP pointed out.

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