KUCHING: The second meeting for the fourth session of the 18th State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting starts today with a full day ahead for the august House.
Six bills, namely Supply (2020) Bill 2019; Sarawak State Library (Amendment) Bill 2019; Natural Resources and Environment (Amendment) Bill 2019; Strata (Subsidiary Titles) Bill 2019; Strata Management Bill 2019; and Sarawak Heritage Bill 2019 are all expected to be tabled for first reading today.
This morning, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg will be tabling the first and second readings of the highly-anticipated Supply (2020) Bill 2019, otherwise known as the State Budget.
He has previously hinted on several occasions that there would be ‘goodies’ in store under this state budget.
Among the hints dropped included generating more funds to finance bigger amounts of development expenditure needed by the state; benefits for the state civil service; as well as details concerning Petronas’ sales tax.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan will be tabling the first reading of the Natural Resources and Environment (Amendment) Bill 2019, and Strata (Subsidiary Titles) Bill 2019 in the morning.
This will be followed by the Strata Management Bill 2019, Sarawak State Library (Amendment) Bill 2019, and Sarawak Heritage Bill 2019, where the first readings of these bills will be tabled by Local Government and Housing Minister Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian, Minister in Chief Minister’s Department (Integrity and Ombudsman) Datuk Talib Zulpilip, and Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, respectively.
The Strata (Subsidiary Titles) Bill 2019 is one of three new bills to be tabled this DUN sitting along with the Strata Management Bill 2019 and Sarawak Heritage Bill 2019.
In the afternoon, Awang Tengah – also Second Urban Development and Resources Minister – will table the second and third readings of the Strata (Subsidiary Titles) Bill 2019 after which Dr Sim is expected to table the second and third readings of the Strata Management Bill 2019.
The eight-day DUN sitting runs until Nov 13 and will be presided by DUN Speaker Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar and Deputy Speaker Dato Gerawat Gala.
Last month, Mohd Asfia told a press conference that the DUN Secretariat had, as of 6pm on Oct 23, received a total of 372 questions from 48 members of the august House for both oral and written replies.
Meanwhile, Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong has also filed a motion urging the Sarawak government to take legal action against Petronas over the non-payment of the tax which came into effect this year.
She was previously reported as saying that if her motion was granted by the Speaker to be debated and passed in DUN during the sitting, the Sarawak government could go ahead with filing the suit against the national oil and gas corporation.