SIBU: Pelawan assemblyman David Wong said more could be done to tackle hardcore poverty in the state if the state government allocated more funds to the welfare department.
Speaking at a press conference here yesterday, he said the state could afford it because according to the State Government Public Account, the state’s income in 2010 was about RM3.8 billion.
“In 2011, Penang’s income was about RM900 million, Selangor was about RM1.43 billion and Sarawak close to RM4 billion.
“We earn four times more than Penang, about 2.5 times than Selangor, and yet hardcore poor is everywhere, whereas Penang has eradicated completely the hardcore poor.”
He also showed figures from the state government public account which stated that in 2010 alone the government earned about
RM115 million from taxes collected from lottery, RM269 million from land premiums, about RM899 million from oil royalty, and RM830 million from natural gas royalty.
“To help the poor, the government only allocated RM37.5 million to the welfare department, which is only one third of the money collected from lottery taxes. This is not sufficient to help the poor.”
He lamented that despite being the richest state in terms of natural resources, there were still many people in the hardcore poverty category.
Wong also urged the state government to allocate more funds to all local councils.
He said the local councils needed at least RM350 million.