KUCHING: Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) senior vice president Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof has suggested that a Sarawak Petroleum Heritage Fund (SPHF) be set up using the state sales tax (SST) payment from oil and gas companies.
“Maybe a budget of RM1 billion could be considered in the 2021 State Budget,” he said at the PBB Southern Zone mini convention at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) on Sunday (Oct 25).
He said the funds will enable the state government to provide free higher education in the form of scholarships or grants to all Sarawakian students.
Fadillah, who is also GPS parliamentary chief whip, said the funds can also be used to help the B40 group, build homes for the poor, and provide a monthly financial assistance of RM500 to the less fortunate and the elderly.
“According to the latest data, 16 percent of senior citizens in Sarawak are categorised as poor and living in hardship,” he said.
The five percent SST on petroleum products for export was imposed by the Sarawak government on Jan 1, 2019 under the State Sales Tax Ordinance 1998.
