‘Sarawak deserves bigger allocation from federal government’

KUCHING: Sarawak deserves a larger allocation of funds from the federal government for its development.

According to Assistant Minister of Coastal Road Datuk Julaihi Narawi, the RM4.346 billion in development fund allocated to Sarawak under National Budget 2019 by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government is ‘rather disappointing’.

“Budget 2019 should have been one that is better than the previous years but apparently, the reality is that it isn’t the case for Sarawak.

“Definitely, we are disappointed but at the same time, Sarawak is grateful to the federal government. Honestly they (federal government) should know that the needs of Sarawak are the biggest in the country,” he spoke after officiating at the ‘Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) Excellence and School Management Seminar’ and SMK Sebuyau’s ‘Semarak Budi Semerbak Kasih’ ceremony at Damai Beach Resort here yesterday.

Julaihi, who is Sebuyau assemblyman, noted that the RM4.346 billion allocated to Sarawak was only RM10 million more than the RM4.336 billion allocated in Budget 2018.

“The allocation is grossly lower than that allocated to Sabah, which is given RM5.009 billion. This is not good as Sarawak has bigger land size than Sabah,” he said.

Julaihi was also uncertain whether the sharing of construction cost for the Batang Lupar Bridge between the Sarawak and federal governments was mentioned in Budget 2019, tabled by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng on Friday.

“Besides Batang Lupar Bridge, a few other bridge projects including (those in) Igan and Rambungan Bridges that were approved by the federal government before, were not mentioned in Budget 2019,” he said.

Julaihi asked the PH government to look into the needs of the people in rural areas, including the construction of bridges in coastal areas.

“I hope that the Sarawak Budget, which will be tabled during the DUN (State Legislative Assembly) sitting on Nov 5, woudl be able to meet the wishes and hopes of the people for the much-needed infrastructures in Sarawak,” he added.