Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah
KUCHING: The National Budget 2019 tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday has been described as rebranding of the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) government budget by two Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) women elected representatives.
Minister for Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said though she welcomed the RM10 million allocation for 50 Taska (nursery) set up at government offices, this idea had also been offered by the previous BN government.
“Even though fund was allocated at the material time, it did not succeed in getting the number of such Taska increased. This was because of space problem at the government offices or premises – either limited or no space at all,” said Fatimah who is also GPS Women leader by virtue of her Parti Pesaka Bumiputrera Bersatu (PBB) Women chief post.
“The same thing can happen again this time around unless there is a political will by heads of Department to make sure there is space for the Taska. I just hope that Sarawak will get a fair share of the federal fund and that government agencies in Sarawak would not miss out on the opportunity particularly those in the Education and Health sectors where there are many women staff,” she stressed.
Up to October 2018, Sarawak has only six Taska set up at the government offices, noted the Dalat assemblywoman.
Batang Sadong MP Dato Sri Nancy Shukri said the national budget is a rebranding of what the previous government did.
Dato Sri Nancy Shukri
On the whole, listening to the budget is like listening to redecorated statements, she pointed out.
“Insurance for workers who lost their jobs-this was introduced earlier during the BN rule. I support some of the modified renamed facilities especially to the B40 and the targeted group, another version of BRIM (1Malaysia People’s Aids),” said Nancy who is former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department under Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s administration before the Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over the federal government.
Nancy said the PH national budget sounded to be populist budget but most of the goodies for B40, women and pensioners are more or less the same as that formulated by the previous BN government.
“Except on PEKA, which is new and focusing on B40. Income does not equate with expenditure, it reflects a tough budget for the nation. Seeing is believing, whether minimum wage of RM1,100 is going to work well with the actual situation on the ground. If it does, I am all out for it.”
The government intended this budget to bring change to the nation so that the nation will not be so dependent on government assistance and instead be more innovative and become entrepreneurial, she said.
“I wish to see this change among the nation especially among the young ones. I am glad that they encourage usage of public transportation by introducing passes. It is time for Malaysia to use public transports to the maximum in order to reduce traffic jam,” she said.
Nancy said an efficient government ought to plan their income and also expenditure to ensure that the government spends within it’s affordability.
“What’s important is that, the government needs to prioritise what and how finance is to be managed and what is their direction. I have high expectation on the new Pakatan Harapan government because this is their first budget and also this is the first time the nation really pays attention to election manifesto.”
“On top of that, as a Sarawakian, I would expect to see more attention be given to Sarawak and Sabah. Development fund for Sarawak and Sabah is not as much as what we expected. A slight increase in allocation does not reflect the regional position of both states. Considering both regions are lagging in infrastructure, Sarawak and Sabah should pressure the federal government to allocate more for the two regions,” said Nancy.
