Warisan twists facts on State Budget
SEMPORNA: Assistant Minister of Finance, Datuk Ramlee Marahaban has accused Parti Warisan Sabah of “twisting facts” about the State Budget and revenues, saying that it was an irresponsible act.
This was an attempt to blind the people’s eyes to gain support, he said.
Ramlee said it was clear that the claim by Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal that the State Budget remained stagnant over the past 40 years at RM4 billion was wrong and this could be proven with historical records from the Sabah Minister of Finance archives.
He said this matter raised the question of whether Shafie was an economist as claimed by Warisan treasurer general Terrence Siambun for accepting the “facts” from Tan Sri Ibrahim Menudin, former State Accountant General without verifying the information.
“Comparing the economic conditions in 1976-1978 and now is not appropriate as the income sources are different, for example in the years of 70s and 80s, the state’s income from timber is no longer the source of income for Sabah now.
“According to the official financial report, the state revenue in 1978 was RM479,027,790 and the federal grants, contributions, and reimbursements came to RM45,790,248, thus giving a total revenue of RM524,818,038 for that year,” he said, adding that the only official source of state income is the State financial report.
Ramlee was commenting on Terrence’s statement on December 24 which stated that Shafie was not lying about the State Budget and only making statement based on Ibrahim’s word.
He said that if Ibrahim was lying, then Shafie was also lying, and the official report at the Sabah Minister of Finance archives showed that both figures stated by both individuals were wrong which means that they were trying to lie about Sabah’s income.
“I believe that he (Shafie) deliberately wanted to underestimate Sabah’s revenue and the capabilities of state leadership led by Tan Sri Musa Aman by saying that there was no increase of state income for 39 years.
“Sabah under Musa has performed exceedingly well, whereby the state revenue has grown from RM1.24 billion in 2001 to RM1.56 billion in 2003, to RM2.33 billion in 2008, to RM3.69 billion in 2012 and surpassed the RM4-billion mark at RM4.58 billion in 2014,” he said.
According to Ramlee, state government had changed its income-generating approach to other sectors, that contributed to the increase in state’s income.
Ramlee said state government no longer depended on logging, as the government made a policy to increase the size of the permanent forest, with a target of at least 30% of the total area of Sabah covered by permanent forests by 2025.
“State financial management is transparent and orderly, therefore, the state’s financial deposits continue to grow, and now stands at RM3.74 billion compared to RM184 million 2003.
“The increase in state financial deposits are also contributed by the efficiency of managing state finances led by Musa as the Chief Minister and State Finance Minister who had achieved a surplus account for 16 years in a row,” said Ramlee.