PORT KLANG, 22 Dec: The Federal Government should have conducted a study to ensure that the people’s income in at par with the rising cost of living, due to a series of price increases for necessary goods, before making the decision to raise prices.
The Executive Councillor in charge of Education, Higher Learning and Human Capital Development in Selangor, Dr Halimah Ali, said that the decision by the Federal Government to increase the price of necessities and services did not take into account the interests of the people.
“However, this is the reverse. Only after raising prices do they want to research,” said Dr Halimah after inaugurating the Selangor Desired Generation Programme (GEMS) at the Pangsapuri Seri Perantau area today.
Dr Halimah said this when commenting on the statement made yesterday by the Second Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Handzlah, that the federal government is studying measures in effort to ensure that the salaries of the people is in line with the increase in cost of living.
Meanwhile, in a press conference after launching the Klang level GEMS Programme, Dr Halimah said that the programme was held to create a generation that is useful to the society, thus avoiding them from being involved in social problems.
“We want human capital rather than people that are a liability to the society by moulding the new generation at an early stage,” she said.
She also touched on the development of residents of Pangsapuri Perantau, which according to her has shown a decrease in social problems compared to 2010.
“We choose this place to launch GEMS because we first obtained information from the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) police that this place experiences a variety of undesirable activities such as gangs, theft, drugs, racial tensions and so on,” she added.
The Selat Klang State Legislative Assembly Zone Chiad, Mohd Fauzi Zainol, said that the lives of the community here is better compared to previously after various efforts were taken, including having a playground, various community programmes such as Rukun Tetangga, celebration of Deepavali and Aidilfitri and so on.
“Previously, the police had to petrol more often, but now, it has slightly reduced since squabbles between races, theft and so on, have decreased,” Mohd Fauzi said.
