VIDEO l 4:50 mins

DAP's Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching has called on the government to confirm if there will be subsidy cuts for natural gas in the near future.

She also claimed that the BN-led federal government is quickly becoming a "Barang Naik" (price increase) government since the conclusion of the 13th general election.

NONE Teo ( left ) was referring to the recent statement by the Energy Commission's senior director Azhar Omar that a hike in electricity tariffs is imminent due to unsustainable subsidies for the power industry along with worldwide price increases in oil, gas and coal.

    

"If the subsidies reducing policy is imminent, it is proven that the government is nevertheless a ‘Barang Naik’ government," Teo said during a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

She said that even if the government does not hike electricity prices in the next 18 months, prices would still go up with the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) effective in April 2015.

"Households whose electricity bill is more than RM43.60 a month cannot avoid paying GST from April 1, 2015 onwards," she said.

She said even government-aided schools would become victims to electricity price hikes because the government only subsidises RM2,000 for the utility bill for the schools, and the schools have to bear more cost if the Education Ministry does not review these rates before the implementation of GST.

"So if there is a cut in natural gas subsidies and thus increasing the electricity tariffs affecting various fields such as healthcare and education, it is unquestionable that the government is no more but a ‘Barang Naik’ government," she said.