KUCHING: The air fare between Sarawak and the peninsula which is considered still high and the need to create a special fund for minority groups in the state were among the feedback received by the 2014 Budget Consultative Council at the Sarawak-level discussion here yesterday.
The council’s first session was declared open by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on June 18 with the theme, ‘Fulfilling Promises, Accelerating Transformation’.
Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah said the second session was to obtain input from government agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Sarawak, and if suitable, these would be included in the 2014 Budget to be tabled in Parliament on Oct 25.
He was speaking at a press conference after chairing today’s session which was attended by representatives from 107 government agencies and NGOs.
“The feedback received included the need to increase the allowances of civil servants in Sarawak, additional allocations for infrastuctural development like providing water and electricity supply, as well as problems faced in implementing each planned project.
“Another matter raised was the need to review the evaluation of students in selecting them for further studies so more students from Sarawak can be sent abroad,” he said.
Mohd Irwan said the Finance Ministry would gather all the feedback received, study them thoroughly and if suitable for implementation,include them in the 2014 Budget.
The closed-door discussion was divided into two sessions – social issues and economic and development issues – which saw the presentation of two working papers titled ‘Inclusive Growth Ensures Prosperity of People’ and ‘Sarawak Economic Transformation: Spurring Investment, Boosting Growth’. — Bernama