SARAWAK civil society organisation Rise of Social Effort (Rose) has expressed disappointment that the recent Sarawak State Legislative Assembly session was a ‘rush job’.
The civil society, which functions as a watchdog group for issues of concern to Sarawakians, pointed out that the recent assembly sitting in Kuching saw only 41 questions answered by state ministers though 350 were tabled for oral and written answers.
"The assembly record showed that 350 questions were tabled but only 41 were answered by the relevant state ministers.
"The Sarawak assembly only convenes twice a year and each sitting only lasts for eight days.
"That is hardly enough time for important issues affecting the rakyat to be deliberated and addressed thoroughly.
"Any questions submitted but not answered orally by the relevant ministers will lapse. The lack of time for important issues to be debated must be addressed.
"The State Government must extend the number of days for the assembly sitting and increase the frequency per year," Rose said in a statement.
The recent sitting that ended last week is the last for this year.
The most vocal assembly representatives were the two Sarawak DAP elected representatives Chong Chien Jen and Violet Yong for the state constituencies of Padungan and Pending respectively.
Both had queried the Gabungan Parti Sarawak state government on the massive spending allocated for the hydrogen trams project in Kuching.
They also took to task the GPS for not raising the minimum pay of state civil service employees from RM1,500 per month to RM1,700 as was decided by the Federal Government.
Out of the 82 state seats, GPS controls 79, DAP two and one Independent (See Chee How) in Batu Lintang. - November 25, 2024
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