KUCHING: Sarawak has been allocated RM80 million by the Election Commission (EC) to conduct the 13th General Election, said State EC director Datu Takun Sungah.
He said the amount was an increase of 40 per cent from the last state election where the EC spent some RM50 million.
“The increased in the amount is due to the higher cost of transportation such as for the usage of boats, land-cruisers and helicopters,” Takun told a press conference at a leading hotel here yesterday.
He said the increase in the cost of election process in Sarawak was unavoidable as it is a vast state.
“The increase was also due to the higher allowances for some 21,000 EC workers for the coming general election in Sarawak alone,” he said.
On another issue, Takun also disclosed that the number of registered voters in Sarawak as of December 31, last year was 1,024,240.
Takun added that those those who registered by March this year were still eligible to vote in the coming general election if it was held in June.
Meanwhile, EC Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yusof disclosed that the EC was seeking some RM300 million from the government to conduct the upcoming general election.
He said, besides Sarawak, EC would also allocate similar amount to Sabah due to the rugged terrains and bigger areas to cover compared to the other states in the Peninsular Malaysia.
Sarawak has 31 parliamentary seats compared to 25 in Sabah.