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Malaysians demand television fee refund worth millions of
dollars
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 (AFP) - Malaysia's opposition leader Sunday
urged the government to refund millions of ringgit collected as annual
television fees after it revealed the fee had been abolished since April.
"DAP calls on the government to ensure a hassle free system to
immediately refund the some 50 million ringgit (13 milion dollars) to the
people from tomorrow," said Lim Kit Siang secretary-general of the Chinese
dominated Democratic Action Party (DAP) in a statement.
Lim said thousands of people had paid the licence fee not just for a
year but in advance for up to three to five years.
Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin announced Friday that the fee had been
abolished since April 1 this year when he unveiled the "people-friendly"
2000 budget.
Daim said the abolition of the television licences fees would result in
a revenue loss of 43 million annually to the government.
Lim said the abolishment of the fee was a last-minute incorporation
since an opposition front shadow budget made public two days earlier had
proposed to do away with the licence.
"Instead, Daim claimed that television licences had been abolished
since April 1, which neither the government nor the public were aware of,
just to avoid being seen as copying from the alternative front budget," he
said.
The opposition front consists of sacked deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's
National Justice Party, Parti Islam Semalaysia, Democratic Action Party
and Malaysia's People Party.
They have no hope of toppling the ruling coalition but say they want to
end its two-thirds parliamentary
majority. | 