Pak Lah: Crisis can lead to our destruction

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi cautioned that the government could fall if it fails to tackle the food crisis and inflation which are also being faced by many other countries now.

The Prime Minister said the government was aware of the situation and had made immediate allocations worth billions of ringgit to ensure that Malaysians were not burdened by these problems.

“We have to take swift action to give a positive impact to the people. You probably may not want to listen but I’m forced to tell you about it,” he said when delivering the Umno president’s message at the party’s 62nd anniversary celebration at the Dewan Merdeka, Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), here yesterday. He said the substantial allocation was actually not included in the government’s initial programme, forcing him to syphon off allocations from the other sectors to ensure that the people’s welfare was looked after and at the same time evade a food crisis and inflation.

Abdullah said if the crisis was poorly handled, it would have an adverse effect on the efforts of the party and the government to win the people’s support. “The government has no choice but to set up the committee on inflation so that it will not collapse as a result of the food crisis which was caused by the weather,” he said.

“This is a reality and not an excuse. We take the responsibility to carry the burden purely for the people,” he added. – Bernama