Marina moots 5pc pay cut, wants leaders to share pain

(MM) – Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir suggested today a 5 per cent salary cut for ministers and deputy ministers, saying the nation’s leaders should share the pain of ordinary Malaysians facing a raft of price hikes from tomorrow.

The social activist said that Putrajaya’s various measures in cutting government spending, which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced yesterday, were “too superficial” and that such actions would not hurt government leaders.

“Five per cent probably is not enough pain, but a good gesture of solidarity,” Marina told The Malay Mail Online today.

“Basically, I’m saying they suffer no pain from these cuts, which are too superficial, unlike ordinary citizens who are really feeling the pain,” she added.

Yesterday, Najib announced 11 measures that Putrajaya will implement from January 1 next year to slash public expenditure, such as cutting the entertainment allowance of ministers and deputy ministers by 10 per cent and that of senior government officers on the Jusa C Grade and above by between five and 10 per cent.

Apart from the allowances, the prime minister said the government will also trim its consumption of food and drinks, as well as the use of buntings and banners during conferences, seminars, meeting, courses, workshops and other official functions.

The use of event management firms and the handing out of door gifts or souvenirs during such events will also be reduced, he said.

Other measures include a reduction of 30 per cent or between RM50 and RM100 in the toll facility offered to senior government officers.

The eligibility for domestic and international flight tickets for civil servants will also be amended, where those in the Jusa C Grade and below will only be eligible for economy class tickets on domestic flights.

Marina, however, pointed out today that civil servants ranked Jusa C Grade generally purchase full fare economy class tickets, but that such flights can be upgraded to business or first class.

“Ordinary citizens, whenever they buy economy tickets, always look for the cheapest tickets that cannot be upgraded. We hope to see our ministers sitting at the back with ordinary people in true economy class,” she said.

Najib also announced yesterday that the electricity cost at all ministries, government departments and agencies will be reduced by five per cent.

Fresh applications for the renovation of government offices will be put on the back burner for the time-being, Najib said, while existing office space will be fully optimised to keep spending low.

The appointment of consultants for government projects, and for the conducting of feasibility studies will be tightened further, with each application to be first approved by the National Development Planning Committee, which is chaired by the Chief Secretary to the Government.

Marina said that Putrajaya could consider asking for a return of fees that were paid to external consultants whose recommendations were ineffective.

“People say, ‘Nobody gets fired for hiring McKinsey…even when their recommendations don’t work,” she said.

Marina’s suggestions for the government follows after her father, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, told the Najib administration to cut wasteful spending first to tackle a chronic budget deficit, before resorting to painful subsidy cuts and taxes.

The former prime minister said last Thursday that a lot of money could be saved by addressing the wastages and leakages in public funds that have been reported in national audits over the years.

Since September, Putrajaya has embarked on aggressive cost-cutting measures after pressure grew for it to rein in a chronic budget deficit that traces back to the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, and which has left Malaysia’s national debt at just below a critical legal ceiling.

Among others, Putrajaya has reduced fuel subsidies, removed price control for sugar, allowed an increase in electricity tariffs and confirmed the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST), all within the space of four months.

But the spending cuts have only earned the Najib administration widespread criticism from the public, who complained against having to tighten their belts at a time when financial mismanagement and corruption still seemed rampant in the government.