Where’s the love for Sarawak in Budget 2019? SUPP asks

KUCHING, Nov 2 — Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian said today that there is nothing much being offered to Sarawak in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government’s maiden Budget 2019.

Besides announcing a general allocation of RM4 billion development funds for Sarawak, he said even the word “Sarawak” was only being mentioned five times by Finance  Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“This is a glaring contrast to the previous government in practice whereby the previous government would always designate a separate chapter or section to specifically list down all the allocations of funds, benefits, policies and projects for Sarawak,” he said.

With the operational expenditures for education and healthcare expected to be increased to RM55.1 billions and RM26.5 billions respectively, Dr Sim said it is totally unknown to Sarawakians if they are part of the beneficiaries of the increased expenditures or are being marginalised in 2019.

“The Budget 2019 therefore constitutes a prelude that sounds so bleak to Sarawakians that we cannot see any glimpse of hope in the forthcoming meetings of the Steering Committee conducted by the PH government which was meant to review and restore Sabah and Sarawak’s status as equal partners in Malaysia,” he said.

SUPP Youth wing chief Michael Tiang also has expressed his disappointment that a meagre allocation is being allocated to Sarawak in the federal budget.

“With our annual contribution to the national coffers of about RM80 billion of crude oil (at the rate of USD70 per barrel), we are being allocated only a meagre amount of RM4 billion development fund in PH’s Budget 2019,” he said.

“The PH government is not paying us our due from the national revenues,” he said, asking if that mean only oil and gas from Sarawak are valuable to the PH government, but not the Sarawak people.

While devising a new departure levy for travellers departing Malaysia for next year, Tiang said the PH government has devised nothing to open up the sky for Sarawak to have more international flight connectivity so as to boost tourism and foreign investments in this region.

“The restriction in flight connectivity is one of the inequality that Sarawak suffers for decades after being part of the federation,” he said.

Tiang said Sarawakians should therefore question the integrity of this new federal government in its present approach of the national budget which he labelled as a blatant breach of the spirit of the Federal Constitution and the Malaysia Agreement 1963.