KUCHING: The Sarawak Public Communication Unit (UKAS) must play its role as an effective disseminator of state government’s policies and initiatives to the public.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said UKAS should provide accurate facts to the people.
Referring to Sarawak recently being recognised as a high-income state by the World Bank, he said there are those who are unsure or confused about what this means.
“With the recognition from the World Bank, there were questions surrounding why Sarawak is a high-income state, but the people are still poor,” he said.
He also explained that the recognition is based on a gross national income (GNI) per capita, not based on per capita income of households.
“Through the state’s increased revenue, the government can and has been giving back to the people like providing RM10,000 deposit for couples purchasing their first home, introducing the Endowment Fund Sarawak (EFS) of RM1,000 to all Sarawak-born children, and free medical screening for Kenyalang Gold Card holders.
“In fact, the statistics for household income in Sarawak have shown an increase from RM4,000 to RM6,000 last year and I believe this will continue to rise as the state government continues to provide infrastructure development and education opportunities for the young generation,” he said.
He was officiating at the UKAS fifth anniversary celebration at Pullman Hotel last night (Aug 1) evening.
At the same time, Abang Johari said the federal government’s approach and survey on the nation’s poverty is inaccurate, stressing that the measurement of wealth from the economic perspective is based on net asset not cash.
“Our people are rich in land, but some do not monetise their land so it cannot be said that these people are poor. Back when I was the housing minister, there were people buying houses and paying in cash in Sibu Jaya.
“This is why I informed them (the federal government) that I want to conduct our own survey because theirs follows the eKasih list which can be misleading. The survey will be conducted under the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) together with Universiti Malaya (UM),” he said.
Abang Johari also said Sarawak has its own approaches and ways of helping its people.
“This is why we have our own policies and approaches because our social net is wide. It is my hope that UKAS will continue to shine light and provide the facts to the people on what we are doing,” he added.
