Angry KL-lites who want the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to roll back planned hike in property assessment taxes for 2014 have been told to hold off street protests.
Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor today asked for time for him to consider complaints and feedback, which would be received up until December 17.
He said this in response to the call by opposition KL MPs to join in a mass protest at Dataran DBKL on Dec 16, (Monday) after the government announced plans to push up assessment rates for the first time in 21 years.
Some were due to pay as much as 300 percent more in taxes.
"Don't demonstrate, just file a complaint... don't be demo-crazy. Why create trouble?
"We want a safe country. Just look at Thailand ... red shirts, yellow shirts ... do you know how many billions they have lost?" Tengku Adnan told reporters at the DBKL Training Institute.
Tengku Adnan charged that the eight KL Pakatan Rakyat MPs were "agents of confusion" for calling street protests after misinforming the public about the issue.
Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor today asked for time for him to consider complaints and feedback, which would be received up until December 17.
He said this in response to the call by opposition KL MPs to join in a mass protest at Dataran DBKL on Dec 16, (Monday) after the government announced plans to push up assessment rates for the first time in 21 years.Some were due to pay as much as 300 percent more in taxes.
"Don't demonstrate, just file a complaint... don't be demo-crazy. Why create trouble?
"We want a safe country. Just look at Thailand ... red shirts, yellow shirts ... do you know how many billions they have lost?" Tengku Adnan told reporters at the DBKL Training Institute.
Tengku Adnan charged that the eight KL Pakatan Rakyat MPs were "agents of confusion" for calling street protests after misinforming the public about the issue.
'No final decision'
The Putrajaya MP emphasized that he has not given his final word on the tax hike, adding that this will only come by last week of December.
"A letter will be issued before January 1. In that letter, the KL mayor, chief secretary and I will explain our joint decision clearly... what needs to be paid, what rates to be used. If the property's (rental assessment) value is high, maybe we can reduce the tax rate. If the payee is a pensioner, maybe we give a rebate ... maybe we even exempt low cost houses," he said.
Tengku Adnan has kept his plans a closely held secret. Last month, Deputy FT Minister Loga Bala Mohan (left) had to take back his statement after saying that the increase in assessment charge would be postponeduntil March next year.
Tengku Adnan said that perhaps DBKL had erred by not including an official letter to properly explain the higher taxes. Instead, property owners had received their revised assessment rates in regular-sized notices last month.
However, he reiterated that the welfare of the people was being taken into account.
"I sometimes feel sad. You know what we are trying to do is to help them but give us a chance to correct our mistakes and sort out our problems. But don't go around making blank accusations.
"As a human being, we too have feelings and limited patience. I can only appeal to their understanding."
Earlier this week, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar had also urged that organisers of the protest on Dec 16 to approachthe police for help about the event.
"A letter will be issued before January 1. In that letter, the KL mayor, chief secretary and I will explain our joint decision clearly... what needs to be paid, what rates to be used. If the property's (rental assessment) value is high, maybe we can reduce the tax rate. If the payee is a pensioner, maybe we give a rebate ... maybe we even exempt low cost houses," he said.
Tengku Adnan has kept his plans a closely held secret. Last month, Deputy FT Minister Loga Bala Mohan (left) had to take back his statement after saying that the increase in assessment charge would be postponeduntil March next year. Tengku Adnan said that perhaps DBKL had erred by not including an official letter to properly explain the higher taxes. Instead, property owners had received their revised assessment rates in regular-sized notices last month.
However, he reiterated that the welfare of the people was being taken into account.
"I sometimes feel sad. You know what we are trying to do is to help them but give us a chance to correct our mistakes and sort out our problems. But don't go around making blank accusations.
"As a human being, we too have feelings and limited patience. I can only appeal to their understanding."
Earlier this week, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar had also urged that organisers of the protest on Dec 16 to approachthe police for help about the event.
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