Kula pins Tok Pa down on 'employment stabilisation' hopes
Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran has blasted the claim by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economic Affairs) Mustapa Mohamed that the unemployment rate was expected to stabilise by the middle of the year, saying that Putrajaya fell short on job-creating.
Citing that Malaysia’s foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 56 percent to US$3.4 billion (RM14 billion), the former human resources minister said new jobs will not be generated without a solid plan to overcome this decline in FDI...
Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran has blasted the claim by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economic Affairs) Mustapa Mohamed that the unemployment rate was expected to stabilise by the middle of the year, saying that Putrajaya fell short on job-creating.
Citing that Malaysia’s foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 56 percent to US$3.4 billion (RM14 billion), the former human resources minister said new jobs will not be generated without a solid plan to overcome this decline in FDI.
Kulasegaran said he found it extraordinary that Mustapa said, "It is hoped that the situation will improve and we expect by the middle of the year the situation will be more stable."
He said of Mustapa: "As a sitting Minister, I find that it is utterly irresponsible. It is no point to tell the media that you hope for something when you are now in a position to make things happen.
"Please Mr Minister, leave the hoping to the average Malaysian, for some of us are at our wits’ end when it comes to our economy and job creation.
"As a Minister, you provided no solution to how the unemployment was going to improve, just your hope," Kulasegaran said.
He pressed Mustapa to reveal his basis for concluding that the situation will stabilise.
"Let me provide the basis in which I conclude the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government has failed.
"According to the Statistics Department, in January 2021, the youth unemployment rate for those aged 15 to 24 years continued to increase by 0.3 percentage points to 13.5 percent month-on-month," Kulasegaran said.
He said, similarly, youth unemployment for those aged 15 to 30 years went up by 0.5 percentage points to 9.2 percent as compared to December 2020.
"Until today there has been no concrete plan to overcome this, so how will new jobs be created?
"Perhaps Mustapa Mohamed should do less hoping and instead formulate better policies to create new jobs to boost employment.
"Until then, Malaysians will be cautious with their expectation," he added.
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