Federal govt urged allocate more funds for Sarawak – Wong Soon Koh

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Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh

KUCHING: The federal government has been urged to honour and fulfil all obligations and responsibilities as stipulated under the Federal Constitution and Malaysia Agreement 1963 in allocating federal funds as Sarawak deserves a bigger share.

In this regard, Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh said Sarawak has not been given due consideration for a fair share of federal budget in the 2019 National Budget despite the state’s tremendous contribution to the national economy and federal coffer.

In the 2019 National Budget, Sarawak is getting only RM4.346 billion out of the total federal development expenditure of RM54.7 billion which is only 7.94 per cent, a mere increase of RM10 million as compared to 2018 allocation.

Meanwhile, under the 2018 National Budget, Sarawak is allocated a sum of RM4.336 billion out of RM46 billion of the total federal development budget, which is 9.46 per cent, he emphasised.

“In fact, the share of allocation for Sarawak in the federal development budget 2019 is actually a drop as compared to allocation in 2018. This is despite the promise made by State Pakatan Harapan (PH) to make sure that the states of Sarawak and Sabah will get 30 per cent of the federal allocation.

“The annual federal allocation for Sarawak is obviously not enough for the state to bring its level of development to be at par with that of Peninsular Malaysia.

“The increase is so negligible, taking into consideration the state’s huge and challenging task ahead to develop Sarawak into a high-income economy,” said Wong in his ministerial winding-up speech during the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting here today.

Wong reiterated that the federal government ought to recognise that Sarawak’s economic growth has been contributing positively to the national gross domestic product (GDP) as a whole.

“Very importantly, Sarawak has been amongst the largest contributors to the federal coffer in terms of revenue collection particularly from oil and gas revenue and collection of taxes.

“On this account, Sarawak definitely deserve a bigger share of the federal allocation. We, therefore, strongly urge the federal government to honour and fulfil all obligations and responsibilities as stipulated under the Federal Constitution and Malaysia Agreement 1963,” said Wong.

Wong pointed out that the federal government has thus far, fallen short in its delivery for the people of Sarawak in terms of development and vital services, such as healthcare and education which are pivotal for a better quality of life.

“We can no longer allowed the people of Sarawak particularly the rural community to continue suffering as a result of slow pace of development arising from years of inadequate federal funding,” he said.

“A case in point is the dire straits of schools particularly in the rural areas, which call for urgent attention and immediate action to make good of the dilapidated schools so that our children can study in a better and safer environment.

“We are now embarking on our self-determining efforts to transform and propel Sarawak economic development aim at uplifting the state economic status through a more aggressive development allocation as tabled in 2019 State Budget,” he added.