MIRI – The Gabungan Parti Sarawak-led (GPS) state government has to explain why the poverty rate is still high, despite billions in federal funds injected into the state every year.
Sarawak PKR information chief Abun Sui told The Vibes that the state cabinet must furnish a detailed report on how all the Malaysia Plan allocation was utilised.
“The latest information coming from the debates in Parliament indicates that poverty in Sarawak is still high despite the massive amount of money channelled into this state from all the Malaysia Plans.
“After so many years, there are still many people living in poverty. These include people in both rural and urban areas.
“It was mentioned in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that the Pusa district (in southern Sarawak) is the poorest in the country.
“It was also mentioned that 82% of schools in Sarawak are considered in bad shape and in need of urgent repairs. GPS owes the rakyat a good explanation.”
Abun said that the state government also has its own substantial financial resources and, thus, the poverty rate should be improving every year.
Party Aspirasi president Lina Soo echoed his sentiments, saying that the Malaysia Plans have failed in many aspects to uplift the lives of ordinary Sarawakians.
“The increase in the level of extreme poverty of 12.9% in Sarawak in 2020 compared with the year before shows that the Malaysia Plan has failed in many aspects. Sarawak today ranks third in the list of poorest states in Malaysia – behind Kelantan and Sabah.
“This ranking is based on the latest household income statistics compiled by the Statistics Department. The number of households living in absolute poverty in Sarawak is too high,” she said in a statement.
Soo was commenting on the 12th Malaysia Plan that was tabled in Parliament earlier this week.
She said many Sarawakians are still poor despite the state having the most natural resources, such as oil and gas.
She added that her party advocates for Sarawakians to have autonomous control of their natural resources. – The Vibes, September 30, 2021
