KUALA LUMPUR – Two members of parliament from Sabah and Sarawak today suggested that bigger allocations be provided for the two states in Budget 2021 in order to narrow the development gap with the peninsula.
During the debate on Supply Bill 2021, Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Warisan-Semporna) said Sabah should receive a more reasonable allocation as it has a high number of hardcore poor people, despite being rich in various resources.
He said Sabah and Sarawak’s fertile soil and natural resources should be tapped to develop the country and enable it to compete with other countries.
“Sabah only received RM5 billion or RM9 billion from the overall allocation of RM322.5 billion in Budget 2021. This has to be viewed seriously so that national development will be balanced.
“We are also aware that the transportation system in the peninsula is much better than that of Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
Shafie also suggested that minibus operators in rural or village areas be given a financial boost by renting their vehicles for transporting rural patients to hospitals.
Larry Sng (PH-Julau) said Sabah and Sarawak needed additional development allocations as the infrastructure in the two states was far behind that in the peninsula.
“For example, the size of Julau, Sarawak, is equal to Perlis and Melaka combined, but we have no petrol or fire stations.
“In terms of health, the ratio of health clinics to the total population in Sabah in 2018 was one clinic to 13,129 residents, and one clinic to 11,682 residents in Sarawak, which was double of Pahang’s (1:5,048),” he said.
Sng said that efforts to bridge the digital gap and address telecommunication infrastructure issues should be expedited, including upgrading 2,041 telecommunication towers in Sarawak to 4G, as Internet access was vital in today’s new normal. – Bernama, November 16, 2020
