Guan Eng ‘arrogant’ in response to tourism tax request, says STAR Sarawak president
KUCHING: State Reform Party ( STAR) Sarawak president Lina Soo has branded Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng as ‘ arrogant’ in asking the state to settle its RM2.5 billion debt to the federal government following a request for Sarawak’s share of the tourism tax revenue.
She said Lim’s response towards the request by Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah’s was ‘overkill’, as the latter had merely asked what had been promised by Putrajaya in the first place.
“The arrogance of federal ministers know no bounds,” she said via a statement yesterday, while reminding Lim of Pakatan Harapan’s election pledge of 20 per cent oil royalty and 50 per cent tax revenue collected in Sarawak be returned to Sarawak.
She added that Peninsular Malaysia would never have had its highways and skyscrapers built had it not been for the oil and gas revenues of Sarawak and Sabah expropriated under the ‘unconstitutional’ Petroleum Development Acts 1974.
“The people of Sarawak have been duped by false promises, and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng should apologise to Sarawakians for the broken faith and failure to deliver their campaign vows.”
With regard to state- federal debt, she said the protocol would have been for the Lim to approach Sarawak’s Finance Minister to discuss the matter.