Next Plan is crucial to Sarawak

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Malaysia Plan – What’s there in it for Sarawak?

THE current Malaysia Plan, the 10th in a series of five-year economic development programmes, is nearing the end of its lifespan. Although Sarawak is a founder member of the Federation of Malaysia, since 1963, our interests were not sufficiently catered for until the mid-term review of the Second Plan in 1972. We missed the boat for a decade!

The next Plan will be tabled in Parliament next month, due to be implemented in 2016. This particular Plan is crucial to us because in barely five years from today our beloved nation is supposed to be joining the club of fully developed countries in the world.

Supposed to … won’t it be nice to be living in an advanced country where there will be no more hardcore poverty, and happiness permeating all levels of society!

A country may be rich in natural resources, but its people may not necessarily be happy if its government is incompetent in managing that country’s resources. Many countries endowed with plenty of natural resources are experiencing civil wars and rebellions over wealth, land, water, and religion.

Nigeria is a good example. The oil and gas wealth doesn’t belong to all Nigerians. It has large tracts of fertile land where oil palm and cocoa were once aplenty, but look at it now: not much cocoa, not many oil palms.

Instead, we read about the Boko Haram abducting women, murdering everybody who gets in their way; in the Delta area there are bloody fights over rights of oil and gas between oil companies and the locals. The constant violent political power struggle between the North and the South has become the norm.

Malaysia is also a rich country. We have natural resources like oil and gas, timber, rubber and palm oil, but wealth from all these has not been equitably distributed. Why are there many thousands amongst us still dirt poor? They are not happy people, though in five years’ time we are going to be a supposedly rich and happy country. We may be advanced in science and technology, but are we, the people of the Book, civilised enough to stand the sight of a cross on a roof?

Economists tell us that the bottom 40 per cent of Malaysian households are heavily in debt. While they struggle out of this quagmire, here comes the GST after the removal of subsidies to compound their problems with debt servicing, rental payment and food rationing. As their families expand and multiply in compliance with Dr Mahathir’s edict – 70 million Malaysians by 2020 – there will be many more mouths to feed, more roofs above their heads and more school uniforms needed. The policymakers must address these household debts apart from the national debt of RM744 billion. They must solve the problem of the inequitable distribution of wealth. Judging by the Auditor General’s reports, year in and year out, a lot of wealth has been squandered through leakages, corruption, and poor financial management.

BRAS plus BR1M for Sarawakians

Take the management of BR1M. Even this assistance has been inequitably distributed. Many of those, a few personally known to me, have missed the BR1M because their shares have been given to others who have received them repeatedly.

Begging for your own money

Poor little Oliver Twist asked for “some more porridge, Sir”. This famous Dickens character was an orphan. Frankly, are we in Sarawak Malaysia’s orphans, having to humbly beg the federal government for a bigger percentage of the premium from our oil and gas revenue? “A little more porridge, please Tuan!” At the moment of writing, our bowl is still half-empty; we are assured that Sarawak-based companies dealing in oil and gas would be given contracts by Petronas while the royalty of 5 per cent remains.

But, these oil and gas companies are already ‘loaded’, mate. It would be fairer for the money to be put directly into our state treasury. After all, we claim to have a name for being good at bookkeeping. Give us the cash and we will handle it with care. From the local treasury the money will be equitably distributed to those of us who really need assistance. Call it BRAS (Bantuan Rakyat Sarawak). There are projects that we can carry out fast without waiting for the PM’s approval under the ‘Skim Sikit Sakit Cari Najib’ – a habit that has developed into a culture. He’s too busy with other problems and commitments, as you well know.

It is hoped that our Sarawak MPs will do justice to their time and opportunity in the august house by actively participating in the debate over the details of the 11th Malaysia Plan. Although these details are still under lock and key somewhere, proactive MPs should know roughly what the Plan contains. Make sure that we do not miss the bus again. What’s there in it for Sarawak? Or for that matter, Sabah?

The MPs from Sarawak may be from different parties, but, if they are smart, they will band together in a common front and demand what’s due to the State while giving “unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar” … By this act, they will leave their footprints in Parliament for many generations to see. For instance, if they can and will speak in one voice regarding quality education (including preschools in the longhouses and villages); religious freedom; income generating jobs for the locals (not giving jobs and small businesses to foreigners); improvement to agriculture (including food security); better healthcare (Hey, why is YB Dr Jerip’s complaint not attended to: the delay in implementing healthcare development projects?).

We need more feeder roads; enough land for the ordinary farmers; good clean water. The longhouses need electricity before talking big about digital connectivity.

Also, don’t forget to tackle the regional disparities, district disparities; economic ethnic disparities; discriminatory practices in job recruitment, placement and promotion in the Civil Service, the Police and in the Armed Forces.

And do away with the Cabotage policy. Though somewhat relaxed in recent days, the policy has caused much misery to the consumers in this part of Malaysia. For those who wonder what kind of beast the cabotage is, think of why we in Sarawak and Sabah have to pay more for goods and vehicles imported through Peninsular Malaysia. Now with consuming the new ‘T’, we have had about enough.

We would like to see the government of the day not just preaching or pledging integrity, but practising it. We want to see strict observation of the rule of law, non-interference by politicians with the independence of the judiciary. We would like law enforcement left to the professional enforcers, not bumbling cops who don’t know an unlawful riotous assembly when they see one.

Solve all or most of the above problems successfully first, then we can talk about closing the gaps between East and West, between cities and rural areas, between ethnic groups. Then we can call ourselves fully developed.

Comments can reach the writer via [email protected].