KUCHING: Whenever the federal budget is tabled in Parliament, Sarawak expects greater allocations, says Assistant Utilities (Water Supply) Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi.
He said this in response to Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul on Budget 2021 and confirmed that Budget 2021 would be bigger than Budget 2020, saying the government intended to spend more to aid economy recovery.
Not only that, Zafrul also said the federal government would continue to fund development projects as it created job opportunities and big economic spill over, and mentioned that there was a need to reduce wastage.
According to Dr Abdul Rahman, Sarawak was still lagging behind in every aspect of development — especially public amenities such as roads, water supply, electricity and telecommunications.
“Speaking of water supply, we desperately need a large allocation to ensure that every household in the state can be supplied with clean water supply by 2025.
“We also hope that the federal government can take into account the geographical factors and the size of the state,” he told New Sarawak Tribune on Monday (Nov 2).
Moreover, Dr Abdul Rahman, who is also the Pantai Damai assemblyman, stressed that the state government did not want to be left behind in its mission to make Sarawak a high-income state by 2030.
“We also hope that Sarawakians will also have equal opportunities, especially in employment in the public sector.”
