PR repeats pledge to bring down fuel price on first day

Pakatan Rakyat has repeated its pledge to cut fuel prices on its first day of Federal power.

Rolling out one of a series of online video clips to explain its manifesto, PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli (pic) said bringing down the prices of petrol and diesel was not something impossible.

Rafizi, who did not specifically mention how much Malaysians could be paying to fuel up their vehicles on the day after PR's victory is announced, however said that the government would have to spend RM6.8 billion annually on subsidies in order to bring fuel price down to RM1.50 per litre.

He arrived at this figure based on the calculation that a 10 sen subsidy per litre would cost the government RM1.7 billion, using the International Energy Agency's statistics that Malaysians use a total of 16.6 billion litres of petrol and diesel every year.

Rafizi, a former accountant with Petronas, also explained how the new government would be able to foot the additional bill by citing the national oil company's annual report.

From 'cronies' to people

He said some RM8 billion is spent every year in the form of gas subsidies to independent power producers (IPPs) to generate electricity to be sold to national power company Tenaga Nasional.

"The bulk of the RM8 billion ultimately benefits those companies controlled by cronies," he said, and named companies such as YTL, Genting Berhad and those owned by tycoons Anantha Krishnan and Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, all of whom have been awarded contracts under the Electricity Power Purchase Agreement.

"We will take away this RM8 billion subsidy from the hands of cronies and give it back to the people in order to bring down fuel price, which amounts to only RM6.8 billion," he added.

Rafizi reiterated that cheaper fuel price is a realistic goal.

"Where there's a will, there's a way," he concluded in the three-minute video.

The clip is one of eight produced by PKR, focussing on PR's major pledges, which also include cheaper cars, free education, minimum household income of RM4000 and toll-free highways.

The clips, said Rafizi, would reach a wider audience online than if they were broadcast on public funded channel Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM).

PR leaders have earlier decided to snub an 'offer' by Information, Communications and Culture minister Rais Yatim to allocate 10 minutes' airtime for political parties to present their manifestos, saying it was a mockery of the government's claims of being more open. -HD