HR unimpressed with ‘election budget’

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah (Harapan Rakyat) president, Datuk Seri Panglima Lajim Ukin, is unimpressed with what has been promised in the national 2018 budget tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Friday.

The Klias assemblyman was of the opinion that the budget is an ‘election budget’ aimed at getting the support of the rakyat so that they can give Barisan Nasional (BN) the mandate to govern the country again.

Lajim took for example the announcement of a feasibility study on the bridge linking Labuan to mainland Sabah.

“This is nothing new, in fact it was announced by the then Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in the previous election. Also, did you notice that the Prime Minister did not mention how much the study would cost and when it would start?

“Let us also look at the RM1 billion to repair dilapidated schools in Sabah, there are many schools in Sabah. If the repairs cost RM2 million to RM3 million per school, the allocation would not be enough,” Lajim said, when contacted to comment of the RM280 billion national budget that Najib tabled.

The budget for infrastructure development in Sabah is also disappointing as there is so much more to be done in terms of roads, water and electricity supply in the state, he lamented.

“There is nothing Sabahans can be proud of in the national budget as not much of what was announced can be implemented in the near future,” he stressed.

Lajim also questioned the reason for a time limit on some of the incentives announced.

“The Prime Minister set 2018 to 2020 for some of the incentives in the budget. Why the need to have a time limit? To me, this makes it seem like a temporary measure and not something the rakyat can benefit from,” he said.