KUCHING: Santubong MP Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said Sarawakians have been short-changed by the federal government in the Budget 2020.
He questioned why Sarawak was allocated a mere half of the 30 per cent development expenditure that Pakatan Harapan had pledged to give.
“The promises of 50 per cent taxes collected in Sarawak and 30 per cent in development expenditure are not being fulfilled,” he said.
Saying that Sarawak was discriminated in the budget, Wan Junaidi pointed out that even the total allocation for development funds to both Sabah and Sarawak still did not amount to 50 per cent as PH promised in its GE14 manifesto.
“The total allocation for Sarawak and Sabah amounts to RM9.5 billion. This is only about 17 per cent of the total development budget of RM56 billion,” he commented.
When tabling of National Budget 2020 in parliament on Friday, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced a development allocation of RM5.2 billion for Sabah and RM4.4 billion for Sarawak.
Wan Junaidi lamented that the budget did not provide allocations for new Hardcore Poor Housing Programme (PPRT) projects.
The former environment and natural resources minister also said the RM30 allocation to address environmental pollution issues was too little.
“This year, the country has been alarmed by incidents of chemical contamination in Sungai Kim Kim and Pasir Gudang, as well as the recent transboundary haze problems.
“With such meagre amount, it is impossible for the ministry to address and upgrade its two departments — Environmental and Chemistry.
“Just look at the incident that happened twice in Pasir Gudang, I already expected that the amount given to solve the problem would not be sufficient,” he said.
