Hasan Malek: GST implementation had its weaknesses

KUALA LUMPUR: Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Hasan Malek admitted today that the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has its weaknesses in terms of enforcement by the ministry.
“This is based on the voice of the people. We admit there were weaknesses and so we want to review these weaknesses with other agencies to see how we can improve our performance,” he said at a press conference after attending the Convocation ceremony of the Maktab Koperasi Malaysia (MKM) here.
He also urged consumers to help the ministry in channeling their complaints about GST abuses to the appropriate channels.
“I always say, don’t complain outside. Complaints to the ministry are very important so that we can go down to the ground to investigate these price abuses,” he said, adding that the ministry can only focus on complaints it receives and can’t possibly check each and every trader due to a lack of manpower.
He also reiterated his commitment to fulfill the needs of consumers by clamping down hard on traders who abuse the GST system.
“Help us to help you, we do not want consumers to fall victim to these errant traders,” he added.
Malek said that he currently has 2,045 enforcement officers around the country and they will act based on complaints and tip offs from consumers. He also said that there were a total of 4,541 complaints about the GST in April which has dropped to a total of 1,685 in May.
He added that a Cabinet level special committee headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has been formed to tackle the high cost of living among the people.