Opposition ignites debate on SMA Bill

Initially Sacofa, a state-controlled telecommunications infrastructure arm, was painted in such a way that it is crucial for the company to be set up by the Sarawak government for the purpose of providing telecommunication infrastructures and services for Sarawakians.

KUCHING: The opposition bench let off a broadside against the Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) Bill 2017 during the debate of the Bill yesterday.

Leading the pack was Violet Yong ( DAP-Pending) who termed the bill as a smokescreen to enrich the cronies like what had happened in the past decades, citing Sacofa, a Sarawak- based telecommunication service provider as an example.

“Initially Sacofa, a statecontrolled telecommunications infrastructure arm, was painted in such a way that it is crucial for the company to be set up by the Sarawak government for the purpose of providing telecommunication infrastructures and services for Sarawakians.”

“But, see what has happened now. It was set up using government funds and then, it was privatsed with 50 per cent of shares sold to CMS below fair price,” she said.

She added that since the state is gearing up towards digital economy, it’s crucial for the government to inform the people about how the state, through the setting up of Sarawak Multimedia Authority ( SMA) or Sarawak Digital Economic Corporation ( SDEC), could generate revenue for the state.

Yong further questioned as to how this piece of new law could bring betterment to the people at large through digitalisation by the state government. How dramatically can Sarawak transform itself into a digital entity in order to cut budgets and streamline services and how much can the digital technology contribute to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP).

“It is also important for the state government to come up with a clear guideline and policy in terms of governing the development and management of the state digital economy,” she added.

Yong reinterated that it would be a waste of the state resources if the government kept pumping in money to SMA or SDEC but at the end of the day, it will be the cronies who will benefit from it and not the people.

“We do not want another Sacofa at play. What the people is concerned about is enjoying affordable, uninterrupted, fastspeed broadband services and digital infrastructure including communication and multimedia activities,” she added.

Yong said Sacofa had been granted a 20-year exclusive right to build, manage, lease and maintain telecommunication towers in the state and had on many occasions angered the local residents due to their arrogant business practices like ignoring the wishes and views of the affected residents when it came to constructing the telecommunication towers.

“In most cases, Sacofa just bulldozed their projects through by constructing the telecommunication towers so near to residential houses, or build it on lands which are meant for recreational purposes or public parks, and worst still on school compounds.”

Sacofa, she added, had always claimed they had obtained all the necessary approval from the state for the construction of the towers and there was no requirement for them to seek the residents’ view.

Places where local residents objected strongly to the construction of the telco towers included SJK Bintwa, Jalan Nyatoh of Taman Supreme, Lorong Uni- Central 13, Taman Penrissen Heights, Mile 12 Kuching- Serian Road, Lorong 10 of Stampin Tengah, Jalan Kampung Haji Baki of Batu Kitang, Taman Uni Garden and Taman Samarindah in Kota Samarahan.

She further said it’s also pertinent for the government to ensure that Sacofa did not continue to monopolise the telecoinfrastructure business in the state.

“Instead, they ( Sacofa) should create a healthy market by opening up to competitors so that the people’s interest is of the upmost priority.

“The state resources must be fairly and justly distributed to the people. This is called good governance,” she added.

Also debating on the same subject were Wong King Wei (DAPPadungan, Chiew Chiu Sing (DAPTanjung Batu), Chong Chieng Jen ( DAP-Kota Sentosa) and See Chee How ( PKR-Batu Lintang).

Violet Yong, Pending assemblywoman