Government won’t promise what can’t be delivered: Najib

(My SinChew) The Barisan Nasional (BN) government will not make any promise which cannot be delivered, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

He said that even without making any promises, however, the government had always striven for the betterment of the people.

“To the opposition, selling promises are their weapons; but when we look at these promises carefully, we know that they cannot be delivered,” he said at the handing over of quality affordable houses at Taman Intan Duyung in conjunction with his one-day visit to the state today.

Present were Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Senate president Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang, Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim and Works Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor.

The prime minister said that if the opposition’s promises were to be implemented, the country would end up bankrupt.

“Imagine if the opposition forms the government and it wants to abolish tolls. Here we have the Works Minister and when I asked him to lower the toll charges, he said he needed to make an accurate calculation, and that if we can afford it, the charges can be lowered.

“But the opposition said that if they win Putrajaya, they are going to abolish tolls. Can this be done? No, it can’t be done; it’s absurd.

“Then they said that the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loan would be abolish immediately. When I asked the Higher Education Minister about this, he said that if the PTPTN was to be abolished, we would lose RM40 billion. And after that we could no longer give out loans in the future,” he said.

The prime minister also said that the opposition parties were only good at making promises in terms of expenditure, like abolishing tolls and PTPTN loans, but made no consideration whatsoever about the source of income.

“We don’t need to have all the degrees to know this; if we work at a sundry shop, we should know about money coming in and going out. If there are no money coming in, soon the shop will have to be closed.

“They (opposition) are selling promises, things which cannot be fulfilled,” he said.

On Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s aspirations to become prime minister, Najib said the former deputy prime minister was not qualified as he had lost his credibility even among his supporters.

Najib said a founder of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Dr Chandra Muzaffar, who had left Anwar, had even said that it would be disastrous for the country if Anwar was to be the prime minister.

“If we put up a billboard and paste the pictures of those who have left him, I think we are going to need a huge billboard because there are so many of them who have left him, from Chandra Muzaffar to his former private secretary Ezam Mohd Nor, to his press secretary Anuar Shaari and lawyer Zulkifli Nordin,” Najib said.

Earlier Mohamad said 70 units of affordable houses, which a total area of 1,100 square feet would be offered to the public through the ballot process.

The three-room houses, developed by Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad, are priced at RM42,000 each, much lower than those with the same floor area developed by private developers in the area, which are between RM52,000 and RM60,000.