Chong welcomes proposed imposition of petroleum sales tax
DEPUTY Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen welcomed Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg’s announcement that Sarawak has decided to impose five per cent sales tax on petroleum products starting Jan 1, next year.
“We will support so long it is legally and constitutionally right. Just that, we are wondering why it takes so long as all this while, sales tax has been the rights of the state,” Chong, who is Democratic Action Party ( DAP) Sarawak chairman told reporters when met after the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting yesterday.
Chong said Abang Johari’s announcementthatGabunganParti Sarawak (GPS) will be focusing on the development of rural areas in state Budget 2019 showed there is competition between the state and federal governments in rural development.
“It is good for the rakyat (people). Now that they (state government) felt under threat they are stepping up the effort and put some serious efforts into uplifting the development of rural areas.”
However, he pointed out the neglect on rural development is the fault of Barisan Nasional, the coalition that the GPS component parties were part of in the past 50 years.
“So, all the over 1, 000 dilapidated schools that exist do not exist overnight. Those and the neglected development of the rural areas did not happen in the last six months but has been going on for the past 50 years.
“Although we view it as better late than never, it is evident that this proved the saying that a little competition is always good, especially in politics where the rakyat will benefit from it,” he added.
The other issue Chong stressed was the importance of the implementation of the budget by the state government.
“At the end of the day, despite all the allocations, it is the way it is being implemented, whether there will be transparency, efficiency and no corruption involved. That is important,” he added.