While singer Sheila Majid's comments about the rising coss of living earlier this week drew fierce fire from Umno and its supporters, inflation came into focus at the party's annual general meeting debates yesterday.

Berita Harian today carried two pages of reports from the AGM urging the government to tackle the rising cost of living

Umno Youth information chief Jamawi Jaafar reportedly called for a task force to tackle rising costs and middlemen, and action against alleged economic saboteurs, while others urged for subsidies and programmes to reduce costs.

Jamawi was reported saying the task force was needed to overcome the economic burden and housing issues being faced by the rakyat.

“We need to be serious about addressing the people's needs,” he was reported as saying during the debate on the economy, adding prices needed to be controlled.

Yesterday, Federal Territories delegate Rizalman Mokhtar had complained about rising costs, saying while they give petrol handouts, they themselves could hardly afford petrol.

His remark received a rousing response from the floor.

This follows Umno information chief Annuar Musa on Wednesday berating Sheila for raising the issue of rising costs, saying she had gotten her facts wrong.

Subsidies urged

Meanwhile, Mahasiswa Nasional representative Ammar Adnan proposed fuel subsidies for varsity students.

"If the government can give us this subsidy, it would be a tremendous help in reducing our daily expenses.

"I would also suggest that debit cards be utilised for this subsidised fuel and only be valid at Petronas fuel pumps nationwide," he was reported as saying during the debate on the presidential policy address.

A student at Universiti Tun Hussein Onn, Ammar was reportedly at the AGM as a university student' representative.

According to a concurrent New Straits Times report today, his suggestion received a thundering show of support from delegates.

Berita Harian also reported other delegates calling for various measures to tackle rising costs.

Perlis delegate Azihani Ali, for instance, said the burden of rising costs could become a major issue in GE14, while Negri Sembilan delegate Hasim Rusdi wanted the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority to take an active role in reducing costs.