KUCHING, Oct 26 — The Sarawak chapter of the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) today expressed hope that the federal Budget 2022 will include the monthly cost of living allowance (Cola) for federal officers serving in Sarawak and Sabah.

Its chairman Omar Bahrein Unin said officers serving in the two Borneo states have not been given the RM50 Cola as received by their counterparts in peninsula Malaysia since January 2020.

"The allocation for cost of living allowance is to show uniformity among the officers serving in the peninsula and the Borneo states,” Omar said in a statement.

He said Sarawak Cuepacs has also applied for regional incentive payments for federal officers in Sarawak and Sabah to be increased in tandem with the present situation.

"We hope that the federal Budget will not let federal officers in Sarawak and Sabah down,” he said, adding that Sarawak Cuepacs has submitted several applications and claims for consideration by the federal government.

He said the claims made by the body were reasonable as most have been announced before, but not been realised due to the change of federal government.

"We really hope that these matters are implemented as soon as possible as they have been postponed since 2018,” Omar said.

"If they are implemented, we believe that it will help government officers to overcome the high cost of living,” he said.

The federal Budget 2022 will be presented in Parliament on Friday.