KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said she would get details from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Mujahid Yusof on the issue of subsidy for successful appeal applicants and “mahram” (those chosen to escort female pilgrims) to perform the Haj pilgrimage.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the matter would be reviewed once she received clarification from Mujahid.
“I want to look at it, because I don’t have any details with me yet,” she said when met by reporters after attending the Wangsa Maju parliamentary constituency Chinese New Year open house here yesterday.
On Saturday, news claiming that individuals who were successful in their appeals and as “mahram” to perform the Haj pilgrimage, would not be eligible for the subsidy anymore, based on the reply posted by the Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH)’s on its official Facebook account, went viral on the social media.
In his response, Mujahid refuted the news and said the government had never issued a statement on the abolition of the subsidy for individuals to perform Haj pilgrimage to the Holy Land under these two categories.
In fact, Mujahid said, the matter (of subsidy allocation) would be decided by TH based on the individual’s financial capability.
Meanwhile, in her speech earlier, Dr Wan Azizah said the inflation rate of 1.0 per cent proved that the Pakatan Harapan government could revive the country’s economy.
“The inflation rate last year was at 1.0 per cent, the lowest since 2009. This is significantly lower than the 3.7 per cent recorded in 2017.
“This is a continuous effort but the measures implemented by the government in the past nine months have begun to show results,” she said.
Dr Wan Azizah said the government also faced many constraints when taking over the country’s administration due to the problems related to the national debt.
“We want our country to progress and the people to live comfortably with a better quality of life,” she said. – Bernama
