KUCHING : Batu Kitang State Assemblyman, Lo Khere Chiang has expressed his shock and anger that a number of projects which were supposed to benefit the people in Batu Kitang had been shelved or put aside. He alleged that the costs of projects for the Padawan Municipal Counci l were reduced f rom RM2 mi l l ion to RM200,000 immediately after the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government took over.
“To make matters worse, I found that the mere RM1million Dewan Haji Bakian dinconsequential RM800,000 Haji Baki hawker stalls have also been shelved when I checked with the officer from the State Development Office.
“Likewise, other projects such as the RM200,000 new water mains to serve Lorong 11, Kampung Bumbok under KKLW (Kementer ian Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah or Ministry of Rural and Regional Development) have also been shelved.
These are all small projects which are meant to ease the hardships of the kampung people in my area. “Why is the PH government shelving all these projects without even finding out or conducting a proper study on it?” he queried.
Lo wondered which project would be hit next and suggested that West Malaysia cut back on its proposed mega projects like Tower M as well.
He added: “The PH manifesto says and I quote in ‘section vii: Half of government’s development budget in the first three years will be for Malaysia’s five poorest states: Sarawak, Sabah, Kelantan, Trengganu and Perlis’.
According to Lo, the PH government has been cutting and trimming projects in the Borneo states when it should be allocating more of the budget to them for development purposes as promised in its manifesto.
“That is why I insist that 100% of Sarawak’s petroleum money be returned to us. Sarawakians. Sarawak produces about 850 barrels per day of one of the most expensive oils in the world and at USD70 a barrel, this amounts to USD56 million per day which adds up to USD20.4 billion a year.
The PH government wants to give us only 20 percent profit and still expects us to take care of our education and hospitals,” he said.
