Which project will be hit next?

I am shocked and angry that a number of projects which were to benefit the people in Batu Kitang have been cut down or filed as KIV ( keep in view).

BP1 projects for Padawan Municipal council was reduced from RM2 million to RM200,000 immediately after Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over.

BP1 projects are categorised as small-scale people-centric projects in the respective local councils, including the building and upgrading of roads, drains, public toilets, multi-purpose halls and so on.

To make matters worse, the mere RM1million Dewan Haji Baki and inconsequential RM800,000 Haji Baki hawker stalls have also been shelved when I checked with the officer from the State Development Office. Likewise,other projects such as the proposed tiny sum of RM200,000 new water mains to serve Lorong 11, Kampung Bumbok under KKLW (Kementerian Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah) has also been stagnated. These are all only small projects which are meant to ease the hardship of the kampung people in my area.

Why is the PH government shelving all these projects without even finding out or conducting a proper study on it?

Hawkers’ centres are critical because it is dangerous to kampung folks to trade along the roadside. Hawkers’ centres will also create business opportunities and bring in additional sources of income for the people of kampung Haji Baki. Dewan Haji Baki will be a common place where the community of diverse backgrounds can hold communal activities, celebrations and sports.

I wonder which project will be hit next? I suggest that West Malaysia cut back on their proposed mega projects like Tower M as well.You already have twins and now you want triplets! This obsession with building towers in West Malaysia is bleeding us Sarawakians dry by taking away the development funds for the poor and needy in East Malaysia. And why would we want another car company for the country if a small Batu Kitang project to improve the lives of rural folks is stopped.

Yb Azmin from the PH government says in black and white that he will give priority to rural projects. The PH manifesto says that and I quote in ‘section vii: Half of government’s development budget in the first three years will be for Malaysia’s five poorest states: Sarawak, Sabah, Kelantan, Trengganu and Perlis’.

Talking is easy to do. Putting words into positive action is what the Rakyat wants done. All PH has been doing since winning the election is the opposite of helping the poorest states. They have in fact been cutting and trimming projects in the Borneo states when they should be allocating more of the budget to us for development purposes as promised in their manifesto.

Why not first consider adhering to promises made in PH’s manifesto and abolish BTN (Biro Tata Negara) and any other unnecessary agencies or consider reducing the salaries of directors of all GLC instead before thinking of cutting projects aimed at helping the poor and needy in Sarawak?

That is why I insist that 100% of Sarawak's petroleum money be returned to us Sarawakians. Sarawak produces about 850 barrels per day of one of the most expensive oil in the world and at USD70 a barrel, this amounts to USD56 million per day which adds up to USD20.4 billion a year. The PH government wants to give us only 20 percent profit and STILL expects us to take care of our education and hospitals?

For how many more years and how much more will present and future generations of Sarawakians have to suffer and endure this indignity? Emergency laws have been lifted by the previous government and Sarawak's territory is now 150 nautical miles and not 3 nautical miles as in 1974 so Sarawak should not have to  beg for pittances from the Federal government. It is high time that the billions of ringgit  siphoned from Sarawak annually is returned to Sarawak. With that money, Sarawak can take care of her own people and build the infrastructures we so desperately need. Sarawakians must not be fooled by what we hear from the naysayers. If Singapore can do it with minimal natural resources, Sarawak can do it even better.

Over the last 55 years in the federation of Malaysia, Sarawak has contributed more than RM500 billion in profits and we should have the right to know where the money went to and how it was spent. This is Sarawak's petroleum money that we are talking about. To my understanding, a lot of our petroleum money may have been used to bail out ailing companies and huge losses by the federal government.

I believe we have the right to know, having contributed substantial amounts to the coffers of Petronas year after year. GPS has every right to be more aggressive in the demand for our rights.

PH should not be wasting the precious little time we have forming useless task forces to discuss MA63. What is there to discuss? But discuss away if you must. Hopefully your time and energy spent in your long debates and endless discussion will be fruitful and beneficial to the people of Sarawak.  Since the Emergency Order was lifted, PDA 1974 and the territorial sea Act are not applicable to Sarawak anymore and therefore PDA1974 is now null and void as it was never endorsed by Sabah  & Sarawak's state legislative assembly.

So it is a FACT that we must all accept that PDA 1974 is NULL & VOID as far as Sarawak is concerned. I simply cannot state this enough and we SHOULD HAVE OUR PETROLEUM MONEY BACK! There is really no need for a task force to investigate PDA1974 or MA63. It is like an unwritten truth hidden from all of us till now. Sarawak and Sabah's rights under MA63 should be recognized and returned to Sarawak and Sabah.

Kota Sentosa’s ADUN Chong Chieng Jen and Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii need to stop harping on with their tiresome 20% proposal. We want 100% of our oil back, not 20%. The present 5% oil royalty is a mere Rm800,000 if the global price of petroleum hovers around USD30 a barrel. 20% royalty is equivalent to less than RM4billion, chicken feed compared to the more than Rm15billion siphoned out from Sarawak to peninsula Malaysia annually. Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Youth Central chairman Michael Tiang put it well when he said that Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen’s intention to table a motion in Parliament to amend the Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA) is in fact tantamount to recognising PDA1974 and its legal standing in the state. We need to remind ourselves that we are supposed to be equal partners entering into this Federation . It is not like signing a relatively easy water agreement with Singapore.

In a recent statement, Tiang responded to Chong’s calling for Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs to support his motion by questioning why it took so long for DAP to understand that Sarawak, in fact, already owns all petroleum resources both onshore and offshore, in the Continental Shelf within the boundaries, as stipulated under the Sarawak (Alteration of Boundaries) by the Queen in Council in 1954.

State Reform Party President Lina Soo has also rightly proposed that the Sarawak government, as the landowner offer Petronas a percentage on every barrel of oil extracted out of Sarawak’s territory; saying it is only proper that the landowner make the offer to the “excavator” (Petronas), and not the other way round.

Fact of the matter is : Sarawak  can and has drilled USD 20.4 billion worth of petroleum that will be approximately Rm 81.6 billion worth of petroleum per year. If we take 100% we can also afford to build mega towers ! But we will not do that to inflate our egos. We will use this ‘hard earned’ money to improve the livelihood of all Sarawakians.

I am in agreement with State Reform Party president, Ms Lina Soo’s statement that “What lies within Sarawak’s territory and its waters belongs rightfully to Sarawak, as has been pre-Malaysia. We want nothing more and nothing less”.

The schools are under the federal government. Up to this day, we still have so many run-down and dilapidated schools. Tragedy after tragedy has occurred. Is that why PH is now saying they are ‘willing’ to give Sarawak 20% of our oil profits and dump this long-neglected problem on us to handle?

Just a week ago, a Baram primary school fire killed one teacher. If it was due to old wiring, then PH must prioritise repair of old schools to prevent such tragedies.

Another incident around the same week was a house fire in Mukah. Our firemen wasted precious time because they had to use the ferry to get to the area! Such is the hardship and the state of the lives of the people of Sarawak.

These two recent incidents have highlighted the urgency of funds for the repair and upgrade of schools and roads in rural Sarawak.

We understand that large sums of money is being approved for use to renovate Penang’s CM house such that it is in  a ‘livable condition’ but dilapidated schools in Sarawak which put lives of students and teachers at risk are not considered a priority by the new government.

Our Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari has magnanimously made the offer of a RM1billion loan from our savings in Sarawak to the federal government for the much needed repair of our schools and the building of new schools in Sarawak as these are the present responsibilities of the federal government. While West Malaysians are building bigger and better transport systems  for themselves with our petroleum money, we have to use our DBOS to rebuild old buildings and protect our people from more tragedies in our schools. As our CM suggested, I truly believe we should treat our RM1 billion as a loan to the federal government and we should also claim interest for the loan as well!

In fact, if the tabung is empty, all the West Malaysian projects should stop if there is not enough duit to spare. Those money come from us, the Borneo states. Pay your debts due to us first before embarking on all those mega projects in West Malaysia. 

Recent news in the making is raising questions and eyebrows on the whole point of having a Finance minister. What is he there to look after? Why is there not a need for transparency in outgoing money from Petronas?The Prime minister clearly cannot be in charge of financial issues under PH manifesto as this will give rise to huge conflicts of interest; for example, issues of widely reported claims that Petronas has been bailing out ailing companies. Petronas should be accountable to all Malaysians. The PM should not have a vested interest in it; nor should it be controlled by the PM.

We must all lend our support to Abang Jo and Petros to demand a fair deal for the exploitation of Sarawak’s oil resources. If other international companies can offer us a fair and decent amount for our oil and gas, we can well and truly expect the same from Petronas.