In a statement, Bukit Bendera Member of Parliament Zairil Khir Johari claimed Prime Minister Najib Razak “misleadingly declared” the government had agreed to continue four JPA scholarship programmes for this year in his Budget 2016 recalibration speech.
The four programmes are namely the National Scholarship Programme, the Special Engineering Programme, the Bursary Programme and the First Degree Programme.
“While it is true that the four programmes have not been shelved, the Prime Minister had failed to mention that they would all be experiencing significant cuts compared to last year.
“The decision to reduce the intake of all four JPA scholarship programmes by 20 to 60 per cent is strongly condemned, as DAP maintains that cuts should come from elsewhere,” he said, adding at least 2,436 students would lose their opportunities as a result of the cuts.
Zairil said the government should instead trim or abolish unnecessary programmes such as the Department of Special Affairs, the National Civics Bureau (BTN), TalentCorp and the National Service Training Programme.
He added that the Pakatan Harapan Alternative Budget 2016 estimated that savings of around RM30 billion could be achieved through more transparent procurement policies such as open competitive tenders, the dismantling of uncompetitive monopolies and reducing rent-seeking practices.
“Furthermore, Malaysians cannot accept such huge cuts for educational opportunities when corruption, leakages and financial scandals abound,” he said, citing 1Malaysia Development Bhd, the Port Klang Free Zone and the Bank Negara Forex issues.
He pointed out that financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity’s latest report published last month, noted that Malaysia lost a total of USD48.25 billion in 2013 alone through illegal capital outflows stemming from tax evasion, crime, corruption, and other illicit activities.
Zairil said it was a travesty when over 2,000 hard working Malaysians were denied opportunities to further their studies while RM500 million in commissions could be paid for the purchase of submarines, while those with no experience could secure RM250 million in soft loans, in an apparent reference to the National Feedlot Corporation scandal.