Selangor strategic communications director Yin Shao Loong said this in a statement today, in response to the views expressed by an aide to Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The prime minister’s special officer Isham Jalil was reported as saying that high property taxes had led to a higher cost of living in Selangor, and that property-related tax in the state and Penang — both under federal opposition parties — was lower during the tenure of the Barisan Nasional government.
“The state has maintained land tax tariffs for the past 14 years.
“Also, through the ‘Peduli Rakyat’ programme, the state has waived assessment fees worth RM113 million for 790,443 kampung houses and low-cost houses.
“We also charged 5,317 settlers in the state a nominal fee of RM1,000 for their ownership of residential land, among other initiatives,” Yin said in disputing Isham’s comments.
Yin argued that the higher cost of living that people faced was only due to the federal government revoking subsidies on cooking oil and petrol, the depreciating ringgit and the imposition of the GST.
On Tuesday, Bernama reported on Isham’s comments made during an interview on Bernama News Channel’s “Ruang Bicara Khas” programme.
Isham had claimed that the Selangor government’s revenue had increased after it raised property-related taxes since the opposition took over the state government in 2008.
“This led to the high cost of living, especially in the city areas,” he had said, adding that the increase of rental for night market lots had also forced traders to raise the prices of goods.