S’wak poor because of ‘mismanagement’ of its natural resources — Chong

KUCHING: Sarawak is regarded as one of the poor states in Malaysia not because its wealth is taken by Putrajaya but due to the management of its natural resources by the Sarawak government, says Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen.

While he did not deny that Sarawak contributes to the national coffers through its oil and gas revenue and so on, he claimed that the management of the state’s natural resources has “made the majority of Sarawakians poor.”

“Sarawak is rich in oil and gas, timber, coal and its abundance of land and these are all managed by the Sarawak government.

“But the management of these natural resources by the state government has not only made the majority of Sarawakians poor but also made a handful of selected Sarawakians super rich. That is the crux of the matter,” he told a press conference at DAP Sarawak headquarters here yesterday.

He was responding to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg’s recent statement that though Sarawak is the third richest state in the country, it is also poor because its wealth had gone to Putrajaya.

Chong, who is also DAP Sarawak chairman, thus urged Abang Johari and the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government to review the ‘pro- crony policies’ rather than to simply make ‘sweeping statements in a bid to try and exonerate themselves from the wrongs they have done to Sarawakians’.

“We have our wealth and yes, some (revenue) are being contributed to the federal government. But likewise, the federal government also pays the salaries of teachers, doctors, nurses, army and so on.

“While ( Datuk Patinggi) Abang Johari can make accusation that Putrajaya has taken our wealth, he should also add in that the state government’s cronies are equally guilty of taking the wealth of Sarawak from Sarawakians,” he said.