Pakatan Rakyat has defended its shadow budget against MCA young professionals bureau chief Chua Tee Yong's claim that its numbers do not add up.

It said the proposed hike for police salary costing RM754 million should not be lumped together as it would only be implemented in stages as part of a larger project to re-prioritise the police force.

It explained that the project would include the transfer of police personnel for crime busting and savings from not having to recruit new personnel as a result of the re-prioritising exercise in the next three years.

NONE "Therefore, it is a process over a period of time and not a one-shot increment as the process of re-assigning special branch officers (to crime busting) would require training.

"This is why page eight of the Pakatan Rakyat Budget 2013 states an estimated 15 percent hike in salary if this process (re-prioritising) is carried out," Pakatan said in a statement issued today by Kuala Selangor MP Dzulkifly Ahmad ( left ), PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli and DAP election strategist Ong Kian Ming.

"As a result, the financial impact for 2013 is estimated at one-third of RM754 million for salary hike for all (police) staff, which is about RM250 million," the statement said.

Chua, who is also Labis MP, said yesterday that Pakatan's plan to provide a special teaching allowance of RM500 a month (RM2.4 billion in total), enforce a minimum wage of RM1,100 for government officers (RM2 billion in total) and a 15 percent salary hike for the police force (RM754 million) amounted to an increment of RM5.1 billion in emoluments.

azlan He claimed the shadow budget only estimated an increment of RM4 billion in emoluments, a shortfall of RM1.1 billion.

However, Pakatan said aside from the staggered cost, the RM250 million a year needed for the the rise in police salary would be off-set by cuts to the "Other Financial Benefits" account, which was allocated RM1.04 billion in the government's Budget 2013.

"This is essential to ensure the account does not involve allocation for wasteful expenditure. We are confident that the savings through a review of the non-emolument financial benefit can off-set the financial impact for 2013 estimated at RM250 million.

"Considering this, the increase in emoluments for government servants is only RM4 billion as contained the Pakatan's shadow budget 2013," Pakatan said.

This was in contrast to the government's plan to increase the intake of new police recruits by 30 percent by 2015 instead of re-prioritising the force, inevitably leading to an increase in cost to maintain the salary of a larger police force, it added.

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