By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Dec 1: The rationale to impose the State Sales Tax (SST) on tyres is to defray the expenses of disposing used tyres throughout Sarawak, says Second Finance and New Economy Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
He explained imposing SST on tyres is part of the industries’ contribution towards conservation of the environment.
“On the issue of tyres, I hope the YB (Padungan assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen) understands that the objective of the tax is to assist the government to ensure that the used tyres will not affect the environment.
“That is why we have appointed a private company to undertake the collection of the (used) tyres. For your information, since 2013, they have collected 78,000 tonnes of tyres in big cities.
“Can you imagine these tyres lying around all over the place? Let’s say, near your house where mosquitoes and so on may cause some problems,” said Uggah when delivering his ministerial winding up speech at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting here today.
“Nevertheless, this government is very responsive to public opinion and public suggestion. That is why, the Premier (of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg) gave the remission of 50 per cent until 2022,” said Uggah.
He said this in response to Chong who interrupted his ministerial speech delivery to request for the postponement of the imposition of the SST on tyres for another three years to ease the burden of businesses and consumers as a whole.
The Sarawak government has given a 50 per cent remission on SST for two years from January 2021 to December 2022.
“What happens next, the GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak) government is open for discussion. It has never been GPS government’s intention to unnecessarily burden the public.
“Our job is to save the people. Our job is to make sure Sarawakians will continue to thrive in this beautiful land of Sarawak, including my friend from Padungan (Chong),” said Uggah. — DayakDaily
