KUCHING: Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has expressed deep regret that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government wanted the states to maintain federal and rural roads using their own funds this year.
He was responding to a statement by Works Minister Baru Bian during a press conference in Penang last Friday.
Baru said he would talk to the state governments about the proposal, citing allocation constraints.
“I am sure there can be some leeway and we can cooperate with the state governments, given the current economic challenges. Finding maintenance funds for federal roads has been a problem, and we hope to resolve it this way,” he said.
According to Najib in his Facebook account on Monday, it is unfair to the states, especially those that are not under the PH such as Sarawak.
“It is the responsibility of the federal government to maintain federal roads as enshrined in the Federal Constitution,” he stressed.
The Pekan MP also expressed his disappointment over the PH government’s refusal to finance the construction of three bridges in Sarawak which were previously approved by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
“BN had agreed to fully finance the construction of Rambungan and Batang Igan bridges while Batang Lupar Bridge would be funded 50-50 by Sarawak and the federal government.
“Why is Sarawak treated like this? Sarawak and other non-PH states also pay SST and other federal taxes.
“Besides, the federal government also collected the car excise duty and road tax every year,” he said.
The former Finance Minister stressed that the PH government must abide by the Federal Constitution and be fair to all states.
