KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 — As 2014 shapes up to be a year of increases, Titiwangsa MP Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani is already setting his sights on rising prices that he has been fighting this year.

Despite being a member of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, Johari ― one of just two Umno federal lawmakers in the city ― has been outspoken against the government’s move to cut subsidies and raise taxes, even crossing party lines to oppose a controversial assessment hike here.

He says these should not have come all at once as they would hurt consumer spending and, ultimately, the country’s economy.

“It will become unbearable to the people,” Johari told The Malay Mail Online in a recent phone interview.

“I can understand why the government needs to reduce subsidies, but what I’m saying is that all these increases cannot be done in one go. It has to be done in phases,” he added.

In order to cut its chronic budget deficit to 3 per cent of the economy by 2015, Putrajaya recently reduced fuel subsidies, removed price controls for sugar, and confirmed the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), all within the space of four months.

Electricity tariffs are set to increase from next month and Kuala Lumpur residents are also in line for an assessment rate hike next year after valuations of their properties were doubled, or tripled in some cases, while public transport charges in the Klang Valley are set to go up further next year.

Putrajaya is also considering increasing the toll rates for various highways throughout the Klang Valley, although this has yet to be confirmed.

“You cannot say if petrol prices go up, ‘don’t drive a car’. We don’t have alternative public transport,” said Johari.

“Our public transport system is not efficient. You can only say that if you have effective public transport like in Melbourne, London or Singapore,” he added.

Johari joined opposition FT lawmakers in opposing the proposed assessment rate hike in the city, pointing out last month that increases to property valuation of between 100 and 300 per cent would render government cash aid meaningless.

Johari says that he will fight against the rising cost of living. — Picture courtesy of Johari Abdul Ghani

When asked to share his biggest achievement this year, Johari said he was proudest of his work to highlight in Parliament the lack of affordable housing in KL for low- to middle-income groups, as well as the spiralling property prices in the Klang Valley.

“This issue later was taken up by the government and they subsequently agreed to allocate more funds and incentives to develop this category of housing in the 2014 Budget, like low-cost houses under KPKT (Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government) and SPNB (Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad),” he said.

Johari pointed out that Putrajaya has also increased the Real Property Gains Tax (RPGT), during the tabling of Budget 2014 in October, to curb speculation that has driven up property prices beyond the reach of many young people in the city.

“Under KPKT, they continue building more PPR houses throughout the country and in the city. But they’re still facing problems in getting suitable land to build PPR in KL,” he said, referring to public housing.

“Even if it’s available, it’s too strategically located, where the land value is more than the price of the PPR. Other land already belongs to developers. That’s why I’m suggesting to DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) and FT, any land belonging to them, they should not privatise it,” added the acting Umno Titiwangsa chief.

On what Johari failed to accomplish this year, he said that he was unable to resolve the issue of flash floods in his constituency in the city centre.

“I’m going to pursue further to get DBKL and government agencies to seriously look into the matter,” he said.

“The immediate feedback that I got was that they’re allocating some funds on widening the drainage at Dato Keramat, and in Kampung Baru, they’re looking at the water retention pond and also upgrading the pump, in order to contain the flash floods,” added the Umno lawmaker.