Monday, February 09, 2009
Shahrir: Cut in power rates will benefit all
Monday February 9, 2009
Shahrir: Cut in power rates will benefit all
JOHOR BARU: The people will benefit from the electricity tariff reduction as it would have an impact on everyone, said Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Samad.
He said a reduction would also help companies during this difficult period.
“It is the intention of the Government to transmit the benefit to everyone,” he said yesterday.
He was asked to comment on the announcement that electricity tariffs would be reduced between 5% and 10% from March 1.
Shahrir said it was inevitable that the tariffs come down as its pricing was linked to the price of medium fuel oil.
“We have to do it fast since the reduction is very steep.
“As crude oil price comes down, this also has to come down,” he said.
The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers said lower tariffs for industries and households would help manufacturers cope with the global economic crisis and the higher operational costs.
Its president Datuk Mustafa Mansur said members were glad that the Government had acted on its promise to help businesses cope with the slowdown.
“While we appreciate the Government’s move, we are still waiting for further announcements on the tariff changes before commenting further,” he said.
The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca), however, felt that the proposed tariff reduction would not result in significant savings for consumers.
Its secretary-general Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah said that an average family that did not use a lot of electrical appliances and spent less than RM100 monthly for electricity would just save a few ringgit with the reduced tariff.
He said the savings were not significant enough for consumers but felt that if electricity was too cheap it might encourage wastage.
