Adenan wants more federal funds for Sarawak under 2016 Budget

KUCHING: A call has been made for the federal government to channel more funds to the state from the allocations set to be announced in the 2016 Budget, which is expected to be tabled in Parliament this October.

Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem said he would forward the official request to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak ‘very soon’.

“We certainly need more funds from the federal government because in comparison with other states in the peninsula, we are still lagging far behind.

“This should not happen. We are singing the same national anthem and yet, we are not enjoying what they all are getting.

“We want to make sure that what they have over there (Peninsular Malaysia), we also have it here. Because of that, I should thank PM (Najib) for approving the Pan Borneo Highway project. In five to six years, we should be able to travel from Lundu to Lawas more comfortably,” he said after launching the proposed bridge project at Sungai Bako here yesterday.

Adenan noted that over in the peninsula, it would only take eight to nine hours to travel from Johor Bahru to Kangar along smooth highways but in Sarawak, people had to spend days just to go from Lundu to Lawas.

“By the time we reach our destination (here), we would fracture some of our backbones due to the torturous journey along uneven road surfaces.

“We want to stop this from happening. Enough is enough,” he stressed.

On the same note, the chief minister said he would continue his focus on narrowing the development gap between the rural and urban areas, with funds from the state’s coffers.

“We realise that the gap is too wide, prompting us to do something (about it). Unfortunately in the last DUN (State Legislative Asembly) sitting, those from the DAP – for reasons known only to themselves – were against the motion for additional allocation for rural development, while all BN (Barisan Nasional) representatives were supportive of it,” he said.

Nevertheless, Adenan said as long as he was still in power, he would continue focusing on rural development.