KUCHING: The people of Sarawak are able to enjoy discounts on assessment rates due to the good governance and leadership of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government, said Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman Lo Khere Chiang.
“This only happens in Sarawak — there are no other states in Malaysia providing such discounts,” he said during a press conference via Zoom after the MPP full council meeting today.
Touching on discounts on assessment rates for the period of January to June this year, he said residential properties with annual rates of RM50 and under would receive 100 percent discount, annual rates of RM50.01 to RM100 (90 percent), RM100.01 to RM150 (80 percent), RM150.01 to RM200 (70 percent), RM200.01 to RM250 (60 percent), RM250.01 to RM300 (50 percent), RM300.01 to RM350 (40 percent), RM350.01 to RM400 (30 percent), and those above RM400 would get a 25 percent discount.
The annual assessment rates for commercial, industrial and special purpose-built properties owned by individuals or companies would be discounted by 25 percent for the period of January to June this year.
As for the second half of the year from July to December, residential properties with annual rates ranging from under RM50 to RM400 would receive the same percentage discount for the respective range as the first half of the year.
However, for the period of July to December, residential properties with annual rates between RM400.01 to RM500 would receive a 20 percent discount and those between RM500.01 to RM700 would get a 10 percent discount. Those with annual rates above RM700 would not receive a discount.
All commercial, industrial and special purpose-built properties would also not receive any discounts on their annual rates for the period of July to December.
Lo said such discounts on annual rates were possible in Sarawak due to the state’s revenue from various means such as the five percent State Sales Tax (SST).
On another matter, he reminded everyone to be careful and comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) in an effort to curb Covid-19.
“The good thing is that Covid-19 in Sarawak is under control. The moment there is a problem, we lock down and we are able to control the situation. Let’s all be careful and not take things for granted,” he emphasised.
He also urged coffeeshop owners to continue using hot water to soak eating utensils such as chopsticks, spoons and forks when serving their customers.
“There are one or two coffeeshops who have gone a bit lax and are not using the hot water. But overall, everyone is doing that and I would like to encourage everyone to continue to do so,” he said.
Lo also said MPP is doing its best to provide public toilets and assist the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) in carrying out sanitisation works on buildings and problem areas.
