Shortchange root cause of hardcore poverty in Sabah
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Solidariti Tanahairku (Sabah Star) reiterates that Sabah will overcome hardcore poverty when it is no longer being shortchanged in its partnership with Malaya.
Party Vice-President Datuk Kenny Chua said in a statement that this is the root cause of hardcore poverty in Sabah.
“We’re still owed the 40 per cent of net revenue derived by the federal government. Our 10 per cent export on petroleum duty has never been paid. And our 10 per cent import duty on petroleum products has also not been paid fully but replaced with some other form of small payment since 2007.
“Our oil and gas have been unconstitutionally taken over by Petronas which is 100 per cent owned by the federal government. And these are just some of demands and our rights which have not been met and returned to us.
“Now, they’re saying our hardcore poverty is six times that of the national rate. This is like telling a poor man how miserable his life is after taking away everything he owns that can make his life better,” he said.
Chua said instead of telling the same sad story about Sabah over and over, the federal government should stop shortchanging the state, being an equal partner in the federation of Malaysia.
“Give us back what’s rightfully ours and we’ll show you how we will make Sabah a prosperous state. Give us back in full. No partial payments, handouts, and no excuses. We’ve had enough of being treated like beggars,” he demanded.
He pointed out that this matter has been raised so many times over the years by Sabah lawmakers from both government and opposition, particularly Sabah Star president Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan who had once lamented that despite Sabah’s position as an equal partner, it had been made “financially, economically, politically and militarily dependent” on Putrajaya.
Chua was commenting on a statement by Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli who revealed that hardcore poverty in Sabah was 1.2 per cent in stark contrast to the 0.2 per cent national rate.
He told the Dewan Rakyat that the disparity was significant considering that the national hardcore poverty rate had decreased from 1 per cent in 2020 to 0.2 in 2022.
He said the federal government had taken steps to help Sabah one of which was through the central database hub (Padu) to accurately identify Sabahans who are eligible for assistance.
This part of his statement however irked Chua who said Sabah has had enough with the federal government’s handout tactic.
“Sabahans will say no thank you to the offer. Why would we need assistance when in the first place we are a region that’s rich of economic resources? Just return what’s been taken from us and we can better take care of ourselves and determine our future. It’s as simple as that,” he said.
On Rafizi’s assurance that the federal government is focused on creating job opportunities through farming, Chua said the Sabah government is equally able to do the same if everything that is owed to the region is returned and its rights respected.
“Actually, this has been the Sabah government’s focus for the past five decades as with so many other development plans to benefit the people. But so many times, this couldn’t be met due to lack of funds. And for so many times, the federal government promised to help. We’ve been going through this for the last five decades.
“So, let’s just keep things simple. Give us back the rights and richness that you’ve taken from us. And stop telling us how poor we are because we know it already and we also know what had caused us to be poor,” said Chua.