ANWAR IN HOT SOUP - AS MALAYSIANS WAKE UP TO ANOTHER PRICE HIKE - WITH MORE TO COME AS RINGGIT CRASHES AGAIN - WATER TO COST MORE FROM FEB 1 - SOON AFTER ELECTRICITY TARIFF HIKES
Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!
KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - Malaysians woke up to another piece of unpleasant news from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's government - another price hike - with more to come as the ringgit trolled historic lows again.
The National Water Service Commission or SPAN on Wednesday announced a 22 sen jump in per cubic metre of water consumption. Affecting all users in the peninsula and Labuan - with Sabah and Sarawak consumers spared - the hike will take effect from February 1.
The water jump comes hot on the heels of higher electricity bills and will further sour voters towards the Anwar administration, already in the hot soup for the endless bickering and skullduggery that has gripped the political arena, instead of keeping electoral promises to control inflation and revive the torpid economy.
"People increasingly see through the political rhetoric, the mind-boggling conspiracy theories like the Dubai Move or a RM1 billion bribe to the Palace to topple the government and the latest bid to ram through a Fixed-Term Parliament Act (FTPA) as deflection tricks to shift the focus away from Anwar's failure to steer the nation and control the economy and rising prices," a veteran political watcher told Politics Now!
"They want to see 'real' improvements and not for the Anwar administration to take a five-year honeymoon through an FTPA that allows him to stay in power until the next general election in 2027. In fact, many won't mind a change in leadership if the current one cannot or refuses to listen to the pulse of the nation and continues to bungle and muddle on."
MAN ON THE STREET FEELS THE PAIN AS RINGGIT CRASHES AGAIN
The unpopular Anwar regime swept to power in the 2022 general election and is largely seen as ineffective, not only failing to keep election promises but actually backpedaling on key reforms - stunning the nation by suddenly revealing a ham-fisted and authoritarian approach to shut down critics, the press, social media and blogs that were deemed as not toeing the government line.
The ringgit too has crashed - busting new lows unseen in 25 years despite efforts by Anwar, who is also finance minister, to 'talk' it up. At 9.36 am, the ringgit depreciated to 4.7075/7110 versus the U.S. dollar from Tuesday’s close of 4.6925/6965.
"The finance minister can say what he likes. That a weak ringgit is good for our exporters, good for translation of our oil revenues, good for drawing in more tourists but what the man on the street feels is direct pain to the pocket. They see only higher food prices, higher petrol prices and now higher utility prices," the former head of money at an international bank told Politics Now!
"In other words, higher cost of living all round as Anwar is also busily cutting key subsidies that have existed for decades, No doubt some of these subsidies have gone on for too long but is this the right time? Should not Anwar trim the fat elsewhere by plugging leakages through the rampant corruption in the civil service as he has always promised, and not just targeting a few political rivals he may want to haul up either to embellish his anti-graft image or to prolong his own political survival?"
Among the prominent political figures the Anwar regime has gone after in connection with alleged corruption include former finance minister Daim Zainuddin and the two former prime ministers who preceded him - Ismail Sabri and Muhyiddin Yassin. Their supporters have accused Anwar of both political persecution and selective prosecution to shift attention from his government's own failures.
Meanwhile, according to national news agency Bernama, the National Water Service Commission (SPAN) said that water tariffs in the country would remain comparatively low despite the increase, and was still inadequate for the actual costs to reliably supply the entire country.
“This increase is still low and cannot cover the actual cost of providing water supply service, which is RM1.75 per cubic metre based on the actual record of 2022,” SPAN said in a statement today.
The commission said the increase will be imposed under the Tariff Setting Mechanism (TSM) that is reviewed every three years to ensure that rates were appropriately set.
SPAN said the increase was necessary to ensure utility firms could continue investing in infrastructure upgrades and maintenance to ensure reliable supply of safe drinking water.
Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!
Politics Now!
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