Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal recently called out the government for being inconsistent in its statements about the electricity tariff hike, which is expected to happen in July.
In a Facebook post, he pointed out that Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) had already confirmed to Bursa Malaysia that the Energy Commission and the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation had approved the tariff adjustment under Regulatory Period 4 (RP4).
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Anwar Ibrahim assured low-income households wouldn’t be impacted
However, he said, the government later denied the increase before once again hinting that the adjustment would still happen, but without affecting households, as reported by Sinar Harian.
Earlier, the government assured businesses that any electricity tariff hike in the second half of this year wouldn’t be a burden or hurt the business community.
The Prime Minister’s Office also said in a statement that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim stressed that low-income households wouldn’t be affected by the planned tariff review.
“It will still affect the people”
Wan Ahmad Fayhsal said this isn’t the first time the government has made contradictory decisions.
“If the rates are going up, just say so. That way, everyone can prepare. The government says 85% of Malaysians, especially the working class, won’t be affected, but in the end, only the rich won’t feel the impact.”
He pointed out that when the government first announced a tariff hike, people got angry. Then they backtracked and said there wouldn’t be an increase.
“I want to remind the Madani government that even if the electricity tariff hike supposedly only affects the “super-rich” industries, it will still have a ripple effect on the people,” he wrote in the post.
“Stop flip-flopping!”
Wan Ahmad Fayhsal also raised concerns about the government’s transparency in handling this issue, especially with the conflicting information between TNB and the government.
He’s calling on the Madani government to be upfront instead of constantly “flip-flopping.”
“So, which is it? Who’s lying? If TNB is the one misleading people, then Bursa and the Securities Commission (SC) should take legal action against its Board of Directors!” he wrote.
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