KUCHING: Sarawakians should not be too excited over the Budget 2020 unveiled in parliament on Friday.
“As expected, for Sarawak, we did not get what we ought to be given. The federal government just want to turn their blind eyes on Sarawak to provoke Sarawak government for maintaining our stand as an independent coalition,” said Batang Sadong MP Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
The former federal minister pointed out that similar to their GE14 manifesto, the Budget 2020 was nice to hear, but till today promises were still not fulfilled.
“The budget announced activities that had been carried out since the previous government. They are introducing new taxes such as the digital services tax in order to generate more revenue for the country.
“Since this is the first real budget from the PH government, we hope to see more work done to strengthen the economy,” she commented.
Nancy noted that the federal government has played Sarawak out once again.
She stressed that based on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) negotiation, under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution, Sarawak was paid special grant of RM16 million since 1969. In the 2020 Budget, RM32 million was allocated for Sarawak and in five years’ time the allocation will be doubled to RM54 million.
“Obviously, there was no review as agreed by the MA63 Steering Committee that they were to hold a proper review under Art 112D of the Federal Constitution,” she said adding that she will debate further to find out on this matter.
Budget 2020 allocated RM4.4 billion in development expenditure for Sarawak, second only to Sabah which received RM5.2 billion. Overall both Sabah and Sarawak only received 17 per cent of the total development budget of RM56 billion, which is far less that the target of 30 per cent.
Nancy also noted the government’s concern over the impact of low commodity prices on the livelihood of Malaysians.
“By injecting funds for oil palm and rubber smallholders, it will help tide them over especially during the wet seasons.
“I also welcome the support for agriculture and aquaculture and subsidy for fishermen,” she said.
She hoped that the PH government would stop politicking and focus on serving the people.
