Healthier accountability for free milk plan?

DAP National Deputy Chairman and MP for Kepong Dr Tan Seng Giaw hopes that thousands of Malaysian students can benefit from the new version of the free milk plan as announced by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

On 17.9.2010, Dr Tan reads the news about the new plan. He is curious.

There is no doubt that fresh milk is good for students. But, stale or contaminated milk harm them.

Next month, free milk plan will restart. Najib says,:"This is part of the Government's efforts to build a generation of healthier and stronger Malaysians."

It is a good thing if students from nearly 10,000 schools in the country can enjoy fresh milk. Why did the previous plan fail? Obviously, there were many factors such as inefficiency that plagued the old version of the plan. The Central Government must learn from the mistake, trying to make sure that this time it is value for money.

What are the criteria for appointing Sabah International Diary Sdn Bhd as the sole distributor? Will the company help to make the best use of public fund, ensuring that the plan works?

While we are lookig forward to healthier and stronger Malaysians, we are also expecting healthier and stronger accountability, transparency and efficiency.

Dr Tan Seng Giaw