(From left) Fadillah, Nancy, Wan Junaidi, Tiong are among the Sarawak MPs who attended the tabling of Sarawak Budget 2019 at the State Legislative Complex’s Public Gallery this morning.
KUCHING: Petra Jaya MP Dato Sri Fadillah Yusof has described the Sarawak Budget 2019 as creating history not only in terms of expenditure but also in the context of management.
He said the budget shows how the Sarawak government increases its revenues, by giving back to the people of Sarawak and focusing on closing the development gap between the cities and the rural areas through basic infrastructure development in the rural areas so that the people can uplift their socio-economy and giving focus to various kinds of developments including digital economy.
“In this context, the approach covers digital economy on how it can give benefits in the context of agriculture. These approaches surely will assist the majority of people who are doing agriculture.
“I feel that the Sarawak Budget 2019 presented by the Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, this morning will transform Sarawak not only from the (perspective) of physical development as it emphasises on the welfare and prosperity of the people of Sarawak,” said Fadillah.
He made the remarks when met after attending the second meeting of the third session of the 18th State Legislative Assembly which began this morning.
Among the Members of Parliament (MP) attending the sitting were Dato Sri Nancy Shukri (Batang Sadong), Dato Sri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (Santubong), Dato Sri Tiong Khing Sing (Bintulu), Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib (Mukah) and Lukanisman Awang Sauni (Sibuti).
Fadillah added that the Sarawak government would take over projects which the previous federal government had committed to implement but could not be fulfilled by the present federal government.
“For example, to repair or rebuild the dilapidated schools which was promised by the previous government with an approved budget of RM1 billion for Sarawak (RM500 million in 2018 and another RM500 million for 2019) now is not a priority by the current federal government.
“Looking at the National Budget 2019, the funds for dilapidated schools in Sarawak are not provided, and now the Sarawak state government is taking its own initiative, where the allocation of RM200 million will be provided to solve the schools’ problem – for the children and the welfare of the teachers who are teaching in these schools.
“I thank the state government for their efforts to take over including the basic infrastructure especially the bridges which were promised to Sarawak like the Batang Lupar Bridge and Rambungan Bridge, now they have been taken over by the state government for the benefits of the people to uplift their economy,” he said.
However, he said what worries the state government is that when the federal government sees the efforts of the state government, Sarawak will continue to be sidelined in terms of allocations.
“If you really look at the National Budget 2019 by the federal government, Sarawak is actually getting less than what has been promised. So, looking at the initiatives made by the state government, they (federal government) take us for granted.
“I hope that the federal government look at the state government’s initiatives as a challenge to them and who knows they will increase the budget for Sarawak for the benefit of the people, like what has been promised in MA1963 and according to the law,” he said.
Under the National Budget 2019, Sarawak will receive RM4.36 billion, an increase of RM10 million over the previous national budget.
“If you look at the percentage, it has declined. For example, Sabah is getting RM5 billion and we only get RM4.36 billion and if by percentage, it is far behind compared to what previous government has allocated for Sarawak,” said Fadillah.