KUALA LUMPUR – The majority of farmers and smallholders are not eligible for the Budi Madani diesel subsidy aid as it requires them to have registered companies and an annual revenue between RM50,000 and RM300,000, said MCA.
Party president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong also said the RM200 monthly aid is too low for smallholders or farmers as they do not only use diesel for transportation but also for other machines used for irrigation, power generation, as well as pumps.
“Alternatively, the monthly subsidies should be increased to a more reasonable amount while the criteria to qualify must include sole proprietors.
“The qualifying annual sales revenue should be changed from the current RM50,000 to RM300,000 to a more reasonable figure of RM0 to RM1.5 million,” he said in a statement today.
“Should the diesel subsidy rationalisation take place, the operation cost of smallholders and farmers will increase – leading to either increased food prices or reduced production.
“Given that food security and prices are the utmost important issues for the public, it is a big mistake to put the agriculture sector under the Budi Madani scheme.”
He added that the agriculture sector should be placed under the Subsidised Diesel Control System 2.0 instead of the Budi Madani scheme.
Yesterday, the Finance Ministry announced that more than 30,000 applicants, including farmers and small-scale commodity growers, were approved to receive cash assistance under the Budi Madani initiative as part of the diesel subsidy retargeting initiative.
The recipients will receive their first cash aid of RM200 each on June 10 through their bank accounts, while those without a bank account can claim the aid in cash by bringing their MyKad to any Bank Simpanan Nasional branch in the peninsula.
Budi Madani is the government’s effort to ensure subsidy allocations are targeted to eligible groups, including individual assistance (Budi Individu), farmers and small-scale growers (Budi Agri-Komoditi) as well as companies and transport vehicles (MySubsidi Diesel).
The ministry also said the application data so far found that the majority of applicants were not approved as they did not meet the eligibility criteria set. – June 7, 2024