Fadillah (seated third left) and his wife Datin Seri Ruziah Mohd Tahir (seated second left) in a group photo with members of Persatuan Penduduk Kampung Datu Sibu during the high-tea thanksgiving ceremony. – Bernama photo
KUCHING (March 5): The federal unity government has implemented many things for Sarawak since its formation as the country’s new administration in December last year, said Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that within the past few months, the state had received an increase of special allocations under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution as well as the appointment of a representative from Sarawak in the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN), among other things.
“There are many other programmes, even in the Budget, which placed focus on projects that have been approved and planned before to have these projects to continue to be implemented especially the Pan Borneo Highway, Sarawak-Sabah Link Road as well as border development,” he told reporters when met after attending a thanksgiving ceremony organised by Persatuan Penduduk Kampung Datu Sibu in conjunction with his appointment as deputy prime minister here today.
He said this when asked for comments on former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s recent statement where the latter had said that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had yet to achieve anything significant during his first 100 days as Malaysia’s 10th prime minister and that the situation in the country remained the same as the people faced economic recession and country’s politics remained unstable.
Fadillah said what was done for Sarawak showed the commitment of the unity government in developing the country.
“In my opinion, it is too early for any party to judge the performance of the unity government but regardless, many programmes have been implemented in this short and challenging time,” he said.
He also said that many investors come to Malaysia due to the unity of the country.
Among them, he said, included Amazon Web Services (AWS), which recently announced its plans to launch an AWS Region in the country with a planned total investment value of RM25.5 billion by 2037.
“When this company is established, this means that other services will also set foot here. Therefore, this shows the confidence of overseas investors who have started coming into the country and the main reason is political stability.
“I hope that right now, let’s not politicise things anymore but instead make politics work for the development of the country,” he said.
He also hoped that Mahathir would continue to help in developing the country by giving constructive views.
“Right now, all Malaysians need us to be united.
“If we are involved in too much politicking, this will cause us to lag behind other countries in the Asian region,” he said.