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SINGAPORE: National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan has said the government cannot reduce petrol taxes despite the soaring oil prices.
He warned against taking the subsidy route, noting that even countries like China and Malaysia have started to re-think their policies on this.
Mr Mah was speaking on the sidelines of a community event on Saturday.
As pump prices here continue to rise, some Singaporeans are wondering why the government is not stepping in to cushion the impact by cutting petrol taxes.
The government has always maintained that petrol duty - currently about 40 cents for every litre - is meant to promote public transport and curb excessive use of cars.
Mr Mah said: "If you price it wrongly, if you subsidise anything, people will tend to use it more or people will tend not to use it as efficiently as possible and that is going to raise the demand. Once you raise the demand, I think that is in turn going to cause prices to go up even higher."
So instead of lowering taxes, Mr Mah said Singapore's strategy is to change habits and attitudes to cut down on energy consumption.
"If you are a motorist, how do you cut down (energy consumption)? Reduce the number of trips, if possible. Car pool, if possible. Better still, take public transport," he said.
Mr Mah was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a dialogue session with Tampines residents.
To help reduce energy costs at the township level, he said, the Tampines Town Council is looking at replacing all lights in common areas with energy-saving ones.
The chit-chat session was instituted two years ago as a way for Mr Mah, who is the Tampines Grassroots Organisation adviser, to meet residents in a more informal and smaller setting.
Hence, a lot of municipal issues were raised, one of which was the issue of safety in the light of the recent spate of molest cases in the neighbourhood. To address this, Mr Mah said the town council will seriously look into installing CCTV cameras in blind spots and secluded areas around the neighbourhood. - CNA/ir
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