Efficient economic management enables higher BR1M payments - Najib
SANDAKAN, April 30 (Bernama) -- The efficiency of managing the economy has raised the nation's receipts and some of the additional income has been returned to the people by doubling the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M), said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
The Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional chairman said he gave priority to the people.
"Before drafting the BN manifesto, I asked myself about the oath I had taken and the promise I had made when being appointed as the Prime Minister, which is to accord priority to the people.
"We have managed the country's economy efficiently and garnered some additional receipts. I told myself that we will return to the people some of the additional funds through BR1M," he said at the opening of Sekolah Kebangsaan Bahagia in Batu Sapi near here today.
On April 7, Najib announced higher payments for the existing recipients of BR1M and introduced a new category of recipients.
For households with an income of RM3,000 or less, the BR1M for June and August will be doubled from RM400 to RM800, thus raising the total payment for this year to RM2,000 from RM1,200.
Those with a household income of between RM3,000 and RM4,000 will receive RM600 instead of RM300.
Under a new category, households earning between RM4,000 and RM5,000 would receive RM700 in June and August. In the other new category, a one-off aid of RM1,500 will be given to the children of BR1M recipients who received offers to further their studies at institutions of higher learning.
Najib said the BN government gave and raised BR1M payments because it had never broken its promises to the people unlike the opposition which had put out a failed manifesto and their poor performance could be gauged in Selangor and Penang.
"In Penang, the opposition government went against its word not to raise the water tariff, hiking it four times, and promised to build a tunnel which has yet to materialise," he said.
Selangor, he said, failed to manage its water supply problem and the state also saw the highest number of dengue cases among states.
-- BERNAMA
