Gerakan has reiterated its call for the government to revise subsidies given to big corporations such as Independent Power Producers (IPPs) following the cut in subsidies on fuel, liquefied petroleum gas and sugar.

Gerakan vice-president Datuk Mah Siew Keong asserted today that subsidies rationalization is a shared responsibility for all, not only for the Rakyat and the government, but also for the big corporate citizens as well.

“Government should renegotiate the terms with big corporations like IPPs to cut the huge subsidies given to them. Otherwise the rakyat will feel that they are being unfairly made to face the brunt of the subsidy cut and that can not be right, “stressed Mah.

“Such move is necessary and consistent with the guiding principles of social justice and good governance as envisaged by Prime Minister Najib’s 1Malaysia,” said Mah in a statement.

Mah, who is the head of Gerakan Economic Development Bureau, argued that in fact this should form part of the big corporations’ corporate social responsibility, i.e. to share the burden together with the Rakyat.

Mah explained this move would help dispel the negative perception that “big corporations keep the profits made, but ask the government (or people) to bear the losses”.
He also added the government should put a stop to any instances of misuse, abuse and wastage of public funds. “The money saved should rightly be used for education, healthcare and public transportation system,” he stressed.

Last week, Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon stressed that the people should not feel they were being made to face the brunt of the subsidies rationalization and that a cut of subsidies to IPP and big companies would be the right thing to do.