THE Gabungan Parti Sarawak government must table a better-balanced budget at the State Legislative Assembly sitting that will be starting today.
Sarawak Pakatan Harapan information chief Senator Abun Sui Anyit said the massive disparity between rural and urban Sarawak now is due to poorly planned state budgets.
"The vast disparities now between the rural and urban districts can be seen very clearly on the ground.
"It is obvious that previous state budgets had not been effective in reducing this divide.
"The state budget cannot be giving excessive focus on administrative expenditures and urban development alone is the case now.
"There must be a specific budget targeted at particular groups of rural communities who are left far behind," he told reporters here.
Abun, who is from Sarawak Parti Keadilan Rakyat, said the Federal Government had given nearly RM 6 billion in direct allocations from the National Budget 2025 plus an additional RM600 mil in annual special payments to this state.
There is therefore no excuse for the GPS to be unable to allocate more funds to help the rural poor throughout Sarawak, he said.
The state assembly will convene in the state capital Kuching starting tomorrow and will last for 10 days. - November 11, 2024
