KOTA KINABALU – The reduced development allocation for Sabah in Budget 2021 is a major setback in efforts to revive the state’s coronavirus-battered economy, said Luyang rep Phoong Jin Zhe.
The state DAP Youth chief told The Vibes that it is disappointing to see a RM100 million drop in allocation from the previous Budget, and that Sabah is in dire need of more funds given that it is the hardest hit in the third Covid-19 wave.
“Development funds are lacking. This will not help Sabah get out of the economic crisis,” he said of the RM5.1 billion set aside for the state.
He said Sabah has also been denied its revenue entitlement, for which it received RM53.4 billion last year.
“Perikatan Nasional said voting for it in the 16th Sabah election would bring greater development to the state, but is it true now?
“In my opinion, the Sabah works minister and Kinabatangan MP, Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, should raise this in Parliament.”
He said Malaysia should follow in the footsteps of the US, which increased investment in infrastructure development to stimulate the economy following the Great Depression in the 1930s.
“Investing a big amount to combat the pandemic can indeed relieve the economic pressure on the general public for the short term.
“But the largest Budget ever has not been able to prove that it is beneficial to Sabah in the long run,” he said of the RM322.5 billion Budget 2021 tabled in Parliament yesterday.
Phoong said no new major projects were announced other than the Pan Borneo Highway and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Johor.
“In 2015, then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that BRT would be built in Kota Kinabalu, but it is nowhere to be found today.
“Besides not having major infrastructure projects for Sabah, the government has also slashed the development allocation for the state.”
He said the Public Works Department’s allocation for major roads in the state has been slashed from RM60 million in 2020 to only RM100 next year.
The allocation for the maintenance and upgrading of roads, meanwhile, has been cut from RM210 million to RM32 million, while funding to construct roads is reduced from RM100 million to RM34 million. – The Vibes, November 7, 2020
