Dewan Rakyat resumes to focus on economic issues, flood readiness

KUALA LUMPUR – Economic challenges and flood preparedness will be among the key areas of focus on the first day of the third meeting for the fifth session of the 14th Parliament today.

According to the Order Paper on the Parliament’s website, Datuk Seri Tajudin Abdul Rahman (Pasir Salak-BN) is set to pose a question to the prime minister. He will seek information on the government’s course of action to deal with the challenges faced to safeguard the welfare and wellbeing of the Malaysian Family.

This will be followed by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Port Dickson-PH) who will ask the prime minister to state the latest statistics on household income category details according to B40, M40 and T20 groups from 2019 to 2022.

Also listed is a question from Datuk Rubiah Wang (Kota Samarahan-GPS) to the prime minister regarding the status of the District Disaster Management Committee nationwide to face the possibility of a flood disaster by end of the year.

Meanwhile, Fong Kui Lun (Bukit Bintang-PH) will ask the Federal Territories Minister to state the ministry’s preparedness to deal with the flood disaster that is expected to hit Kuala Lumpur by end of the year.

The meeting will also witness the tabling of the Road Transport (Amendment) Bill 2022, the Land Public Transport Bill 2022, the Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (Amendment) Bill 2022, and the Environmental Quality (Amendment) Bill 2022, for first reading.

In addition to a motion to elect the Deputy Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, the meeting is also expected to focus on the tabling of a statement of the special select committee relating to the Tobacco and Smoking Products Control Bill 2022.

A statement containing proposed improvements to the nill is expected to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat no later than Thursday (October 6) if the proposal of the Health Minister to extend the date of presentation of the statement is approved.

On August 2, the special select committee chaired by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and comprising 13 members of Parliament from the government and opposition, felt that the statement must be presented no later than the date of the first day of the third meeting of the fifth term of the 14th Parliament sitting.

The main focus of the conference will be the tabling of the Supply (Budget) Bill 2023, which is scheduled to be done by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz around 4pm this Friday.

The bill is scheduled to be debated at the policy level for eight days and will be answered by ministers for four days before being debated at the committee level for 12 days.

The Dewan Rakyat sitting will last for 32 days, until November 29. – Bernama, October 3, 2022