KUCHING: The Sarawak government today announced the Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) 9.0 package, which is worth more than RM1 billion and includes five measures to help people affected by inflation.
According to Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, the latest package reflected the government’s concern as, currently, it is a challenging time for all due to the high cost of living.
He disclosed that as of June 2022, the inflation rate in Malaysia had increased to 3.4 percent compared to the same month of last year.
“For Sarawak, inflation had increased to 3.2 per cent compared to the same month prior.
“The Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government is well aware of the people’s complaints over the price increase in goods such as eggs, chicken, cooking oil and others.
“As a caring government, we have decided to continue providing assistance to ease the rakyat’s burden.
“Therefore, this BKSS 9.0 will take effect for six months (from July to December 2022),” he said.
He said this when announcing the BKSS 9.0 package at Wisma Bapa Malaysia in Petra Jaya here today.
Abang Johari said the first measure under BKSS 9.0 was the extension of the monthly electricity bill discount of five per cent up to 25 per cent for domestic, commercial and industrial consumers from July to December 2022.
“The discount will benefit 685,000 account holders throughout Sarawak. The total cost of this electricity bill discount amounts to RM201.76 million, which will be borne by the state government,” he said.
He also stated that the 10 per cent to 25 per cent discount on monthly water bills for domestic, commercial and industrial customers would be extended from July to December of this year.
Abang Johari said this too would benefit 685,000 account holders, involving RM35.34 million.
Third, he stated that for the next six months, there will be a 25 per cent discount for the RM400 annual assessment tax rate and a 30 per cent discount for RM400 and below the same tax rate for residential, commercial, industrial and special holdings.
“This initiative will benefit more than 500,000 premises under the local authorities and, at the same time, will be able to ease the burden of the people and traders in Sarawak. The total cost of this discount is RM54 million.
“Next, the state government would also extend the 50 per cent discount on rental of local authorities’ markets and stalls for hawkers and petty traders for the same period.
“This assistance will benefit more than 10,000 registered hawkers who rent stalls from local authorities. The total cost of RM1.73 million will be borne by the state government,” he explained.
The final measure under BKSS 9.0 is the additional construction materials under the special provisions for variation of price (VOP) 2.0.
He stated that the price increase of construction materials had badly impacted the players in the building industry.
“The Sarawak government has launched the VOP 2.0 to account for the increase in the price of construction materials for all state-funded projects in an effort to relieve the margin erosion suffered by the contractors and ensure the delivery of government projects during this challenging period,” he said.
He said that the VOP 2.0 will include 10 additional materials for civil engineering works and 15 additional materials for ongoing contracts with Letters of Acceptance (LOA) issued between Jan 1, 2021 and Dec 31, 2021.
“Additionally, as part of this initiative, we will provide extension of time (EOT) for a maximum of six months, provided that they meet the requirements set forth by the relevant agencies.
“For that, the Sarawak government is estimated to bear the cost of approximately RM700 million for allowing the variation in price,” he noted.
In light of this, he stated that the state government is constantly considering and carrying out the best measures to assist the people in order to benefit all groups in the current challenging situation.
“As we are all aware, the economy is currently recovering. I thus expect that the measures in the BKSS 9.0 will be able to help Sarawakians somewhat lessen the burden of their living expenses,” he pointed out.
