Sarawak must not depend too much on PH government, says Lo
Lo Khere Chiang
KUCHING: It is imperative for Sarawak to defend its interest without depending on the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government, says Batu Kitang assemblyman Lo Khere Chiang.
In his comments about Budget 2019, he said it was understandable that the new government decided to table a more conservative budget, given the national debt level having breached RM1 trillion.
However, he was disappointed that not much funds were allocated to Sarawak under PH government’s maiden budget.
“It seems like a very conservative budget and the figures given are very beautiful,” he said during a press conference set up after the launch of ‘Liberty Grove’ residential building at Kota Sentosa here yesterday.
According to Lo, who is Batu Kitang assemblyman, Sarawak contributes RM15 billion and RM49 billion of profits from petroleum and gas, respectively, to Peninsular Malaysia every year.
“Before the election, PH Sarawak said they would request 30 per cent of the development expenditure in Budget 2019 to be allocated to Sarawak and Sabah,” he recalled.
In view of the ‘disappointing’ budget allocation for Sarawak, Lo reiterated that Sarawak should defend its interest without depending too much on the new federal government.
“I hope that Sarawak, under the leadership of (Chief Minister) Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, would seek opportunities to request for more revenues for the development of Sarawak, especially on the infrastructure front,” Lo added.
On Friday, federal Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced a general allocation of more than RM4 billion in development fund to Sarawak during the tabling of Budget 2019 in Parliament.
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