Low-income
earners have been suffocated by car loans. The Insolvency Department
recorded 116,379 bankruptcy cases in the country between 2005 and April
2012. Some 25 per cent of them were due to debts over vehicle loans,
with 2,000 below the age of 25.
Underdeveloped transportation causes crowded
highways during long public holidays and the people would have to pay
the of fuel consumption, environment pollution and accelerating the
process of turning the country into a net oil importer.
The surge in the number of road vehicles and the underdeveloped public
transport are due to the unsound National Automotive Policy (NAP). The
government has exerted great efforts to develop and protect national
cars and thus, not keen in upgrading the public transport system,
particularly in developing high-speed rail.
Moreover, in addition to protecting national cars, the government also
earns a great amount of income from car excise duty. Each imported car
contributes at least RM10,000 to the Treasury and the government earns
RM7 billion each year.
The government does not impose restriction to limit car purchase. There
are more and more tolled highways but the traffic is increasingly
crowded. If the number of vehicles in Kuala Lumpur is not limited, even
the Mass Rapid Transit Corp (MRT) project would not be able to solve
traffic problems in the capital.
It was reported recently that one of the main focuses of the upcoming
NAP might include car price reduction in the next three or four years.
However, the credibility of the report is not high if we calculate based
on the benefits the government gets from car duties.
In fact, car price reduction has long been speculated but it always
ended up as the wolf crying story due to the protection of national cars
and other factors. The previous NAP only increased the automotive
industry incentives but did not touch the status of national cars.
The car price reduction rumour this time might be related to the Pakatan
Rakyat’s commitment of relaxing car excise duty after taking over the
office.
Low-income earners have been suffocated by car loans. The Insolvency
Department recorded 116,379 bankruptcy cases in the country between 2005
and April 2012. Some 25 per cent of them were due to debts over vehicle
loans, with 2,000 below the age of 25.
The BN government might adopt other strategies to compete with the car
price reduction commitment of the Pakatan Rakyat and it is unlikely to
narrow the price gap between national and imported cars, to avoid
setting a blow to national car sales, which has already been falling,
and related industries.
Moreover, reducing car prices will affect the situation as a whole. Car
loan borrowers might end up overpaying the bank after the fall of car
marker values.
Comprehensive consideration is necessary for the adjustment of the NAP.
It must not only protect national cars and duty revenues, but at the
same time, also solve the people’s problem, including developing the
public transport system to lighten the people’s heavy burden of car
loans.
Deviation in the NAP would also lead to the waste of resources. For
example, bus services in Putrajaya gained less than RM2 million of
annual income, causing them to suffer a loss of RM18 million each year.
Ultimately, the government would be the one who pays the bill.
In addition, the government also approved a RM400 million fund to help
stage bus operators which are finding it difficult to continue with
their services in various states.
For
ordinary citizens, food, clothing, housing and transportation are the
basic necessities of life and thus, it is the government’s
responsibility to solve the people’s traffic problems.
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