Rep: Najib’s pledge to strengthen US economy an insult
SIBU: Bukit Assek assemblywoman Irene Chang said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s pledge to strengthen the US economy is an insult and affront to the people of Sarawak.
In a press statement yesterday, she said it is especially outrageous as the federal government had cited insufficient funds and the need to sustain government coffers when it implemented GST in 2015, axed public scholarships in 2016, attempted to collect income tax from religious bodies in 2016, and implemented tourism tax in 2017.
“I ask our state government if they are going to take this lying down, considering that the federal government has time and again not been as forthcoming as they should be in allocating funds to Sarawak.
“This pledge to allow huge sums of money to flow out of the country is especially a bitter pill for us Sarawakians to swallow as it shows a total disregard for the needs of our people,” she said.
Irene said 54 years after Malaysia was formed, Sarawak remained one of the most backward states in the country.
She said the state had rich resources yet the revenues collected from them had not been sufficiently pumped back into the state treasury to address the needs of the people.
Among the needs, she said, are infrastructure development, flood mitigation measures, proper medical facilities for those in rural areas and repair of dilapidated schools.
“In fact, it was recently reported in The Borneo Post that our state government has taken steps to use our own state funds to repair these dilapidated schools and to improve teaching facilities,” she said.
Irene also said Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing had been reported to say that the state could no longer wait for federal funds to carry out the repairs.
She said it clearly showed the federal government had refused to consider the plight of students and the people.
Irene also suggested that the federal government agree to the state tourism’s demand for 30 per cent of the tourism tax to be given back to the state as well as 30 per cent of the GST collected.
“I urge the state BN not to sit idle and continue to allow the federal government to marginalise us further,” she said.