Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah
KUCHING: Minister of Welfare, Community Well Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah is saddened that the federal government is using population as the basis to develop Sarawak despite its huge contribution to the national coffers through its oil and gas industry.
Fatimah said initially she welcomed Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s stand of equal treatment in development for all states, but was taken aback that he used population as one of the criteria for development distribution.
“It is not only about equality but also equity,” said Fatimah who is also Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Women chief and Dalat assemblywoman.
Sarawak has a population of less than 2.7 million but its geographical area is large. The richest and most populous state Selangor has a population of around 5.7 million while the population of Malaysia is 32 million.
Fatimah reasoned that when population size is used as the basis for approving projects, then Sarawak would continue to get a minor share of the allocation for its rural roads, bridges, water supply, electricity, houses for the poor, as well as repair of dilapidated small rural schools.
She was responding to a comment by Dr Mahathir that the federal government needs to develop infrastructure in Sabah and Sarawak.
“The headline that caught my attention was ‘Fair treatment for all states – PM assures there is no discrimination
against Sabah and Sarawak’ as it sounds good. However the statements following the headline made my heart sink,” Fatimah said.
She pointed out that the bulk of revenue from Sarawak’s oil and gas should be channelled back to the state.