"REDUCING government subsidies on electricity by half will mean more jobs and revenues through export opportunities for Brunei.
Hj Jamain Julaihi, deputy permanent secretary (Downstream and Power) of the Energy Department at the Prime Minister's Office (EDPMO) told The Brunei Times on Saturday that they want to prevent any more wastage.
"We want to save because that savings can be translated to many things. One of them is to generate revenue for the government in the form of exports, and can attract investors to the downstream industries which are based on gas," he said, adding that wasting energy would hurt Brunei's economy, and hamper economic growth.
He stressed that the generated revenues will then create job opportunities for "hundreds of Bruneians".
He said that the new electricity tariff which will come into effect on January 1, 2012 is expected to reduce government subsidies on electricity by half which will in turn present new opportunities in the form of export and job creation.
In 2010, the government spent $40 million on electricity subsidy, which prompted the need to introduce a smart subsidy, focusing more on the needy, while penalising higher consumers to avoid further wastage".
With due respect, the notion of cutting or government making cuts in her services to lift government revenue is totally false or fallacy. In fact the opposite shall be happening. Furthermore, exporting precious resources such as our oil and gas in order to accumulate other people's money is detrimental to the nation.
Why all the above?
After August 15, 1971, when United States then President Nixon ended the last remaining gold standard, the world had been operating on FIAT currency system. This system empowered nations to "create" their own sovereign currency without the backing of any precious assets such as gold, oil and gas and etc. NONE what so ever!! In fact the last remaining country in this world to remove her currency from gold was Switzerland on May 1, 2000. Since then all monies created in this world either digitally or physical creation are fiat - money that is created out of thin air! Thus the notion that our country to have revenue first through exportation of her oil and gas in order to spend is totally false. As a sovereign nation, Brunei have the ability to create her own sovereign currency i.e. Brunei Dollar or Brunei Ringgit.
I applaud the government initiative to save the country's precious energy resources but targeting people's wallet is counter productive. My view is that saving energy should not be at the expense of the people. In fact, should the government initiate green technology now such as Wind Farm - as mentioned in recent CSPS studies, the country can save more of her precious resources and at the same time create more jobs now.
Honestly, our country should be saving her resources and categorizing them as strategic assets. This should not be limited to oil and gas. It should be extended to all. Thus, I would advocate that our government to seriously think of doing massive spending. Those spending should be directed at improving the country's infrastructure such adopting renewable energy technologies, building LRT, building more schools, PTE's and universities, mosques, desalination plant, and etc. Furthermore, the government should be improving her population welfare rather than trimming them. All these can be achieve by the country because Brunei is a monetarily sovereign country.
