KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — Putrajaya will not delay the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) scheduled for next Wednesday despite a protest at a Customs office yesterday, a minister has said.
Local daily The Star reported Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan as saying yesterday that the government will not succumb to pressure to defer the new consumption tax scheme, after dozens of activists were arrested for protesting against the GST at the Federal Territories Customs complex in Petaling Jaya.
“Demonstrations will not stop the (implementation of the) GST. Come April 1, GST will replace the SST (Sales and Services Tax),” he was quoted saying.
Ahmad also reportedly said the government was not making a mistake by introducing the GST, citing many other countries that have also implemented the consumption tax.
“Of 193 countries in the world, 169 have already implemented the GST. It is impossible that they made a mistake. Other Asean countries except Brunei and Myanmar too have already implemented the GST,” he said.
Klang MP Charles Santiago said yesterday that 79 activists were arrested after staging a sit-in protest at the Federal Territories Customs complex in Petaling Jaya.
News portal Malaysiakini reported that at least 60 protest participants have been arrested by the police, including their leader from Parti Sosialis Malaysia S. Arutchelvan, Solidarity Anak Muda Malaysia’s Badrul Hisham Sharin and PAS’s Kuala Krai MP Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli.
