BARISAN Nasional (BN) will not raise assessment taxes in Negeri Sembilan for the next five years if it regains control of the state after the Aug 1 state election, said BN state chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
Mohamad said the state government should not seek to increase revenue by imposing higher taxes on residents, but should instead focus on generating income through development.
"We will not increase any assessment tax for the next five years. We want to find state revenue not by taxing the people.
"We want our income to increase not by imposing high taxes on the rakyat, but by developing the state. Through development, we will generate income, not through people's taxes," he said.
He was speaking at a programme with the Indian community at Taman Intan, Rantau, last night.
Mohamad, who is defending the Rantau state seat, said residents interested in running small businesses should be given opportunities as long as they comply with safety and cleanliness requirements.
"Anyone who wants to do business, let them do business as long as they maintain safety and cleanliness. This is the economic era. If a wife knows how to make nasi lemak, if a wife knows how to make kuih, what is wrong with her opening a stall and selling kuih or nasi lemak?" he said.
He said governments should increase revenue through development and economic activities instead of placing additional financial pressure on people already facing a high cost of living.
"People are already burdened with the high cost of living, and now they have to face more taxes. We must make the state or country an entity that does business.
"Through business we can generate income, through development we can generate income, not through taxing the people," he said.
Meanwhile, Mohamad, who is also Rembau Member of Parliament and a former Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar, said the previous BN administration had implemented various policies and initiatives to support the Indian community.
Among the measures introduced during his tenure, he said, was providing housing for estate workers who were forced to leave plantations following changes in the plantation sector.
"We created a housing policy for estate workers. It was not for outsiders, it was specifically for workers who had to leave the estates. They had lived there for two or three generations, but had to leave because rubber plantations no longer existed.
"What would happen to them if we did not help? That is why I built homes for them," he said.
Mohamad added that the BN administration had also focused on improving educational facilities for the Indian community through the construction of several new Tamil schools.
"New Tamil schools at Ladang Saga, Ladang Linsum, Ladang Shanghai. The best Tamil vernacular school in the world, I believe, is in Sendayan.
"That is my gift to my friends in the Indian community in the Rantau state constituency, to provide the best schools for their children," he said.
He also highlighted the resolution of a decades-long land dispute involving residents of the Gatco plantation, which he said was settled under BN's administration.
"For 40 or 50 years, Kampung Pasir had no title deeds. Gatco involved many Indians and had a problem for 47 years. I resolved it. Those who originally had land were given four hectares, those who bought land were given two hectares, and we want to carry out replanting with RISDA," he said. - July 26, 2026
