David
Wong’s budget debate speech for 2017
Tuan
Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to debate on Budget 2018.
I
waited in anticipation for our CM to table his budget on the 8/10/2017 as I
thought it would be a budget for all with emphasis on reducing the rising cost
of living.
Our
CM did table an 8.226 billion budget for 2018 but sadly it wasn’t a budget for
the many as most Sarawakians can’t see what’s in it for them at all.
Our
CM likes mega projects and likes to impress the people by showing how
tech-savvy he is, talking about digital economy and eCommerce, high speed
internet and LRT project and forgot that Sarawak needs a caring government that
takes care of the people especially the poor and the less privileged first
before we embark on other agendas.
Yes,
we have a rich state government but how about our folks? With the
implementation of the GST, the devaluation of the ringgit and the so called
rationalization of the BN where subsidy for fuels, cooking oil, sugar and even
flour were cut, many are finding it difficult to keep up with the rising cost
of living.
While
announcing the RM8.226 billion budget, did the CM addressed the issues of
rising cost of living?
The
late CM Tok Nan is remembered for his many “people-centric” policies during his
tenure as CM of Sarawak. Among his most notable
contributions is that he had revised tariff structure for the domestic, commercial
and industrial sectors to cushion the rising cost of living of the people.
Adenan had also announced that the state government had abolished payment of
certain land-quit rents which have brought a huge impact on the people. During
his stint in the past two years, he has implemented people-friendly policies.
He has won the hearts (of Sarawakians), especially those in urban areas,
through moves like the abolishment of toll, acceleration development in the
suburban areas as well as reducing the premium payments for agricultural land
and housing, among others. This is the kind of leadership that Sarawakians put
their faith and willing to work together with.
Penang
government and Selangor government are giving out assistances to help people
struggling against rising cost of living although their budget is only RM 1.3
billion and RM3.12 billion?
Did
the CM give any thought to the students who are accepted into vocational
schools or local university by giving aids to them like what the Penang
government does with RM300 for vocational students and RM1000 for college
students? How about the senior citizens aid or healthcare services for families
with household incomes of RM5000 and below and RM300 in “child care assistance”
for mothers with children below six(6)? RM400 cash vouchers for fishermen along
with free nets twice a year, do we have it?
The
Selangor government has a heart for the poor by addressing Cost of living and
affordable health care into their budget 2018. The “skim peduli sihat” or
medical healthcare coverage to address the rising cost of living for the B40
income group, which cover aopproxuiately 1 million people with income of RM3000
and below. The Selangor government announced a new program, dubbed “kasih Ibu
Smart Selangor” (KISS), which provides a monthly assistance of RM200 for food
supplies to mothers whose families earned below RM2000, ho about Sarawak?
Or
did the CM mentioned about the ever worsening business environments in Sarawak
since the implementation of the GST?
Sarawakians
would like to see the CM taking care of the ordinary people, the men and women
on the street and the working families and not taking care of mega projects
that may not be viable at all, such as the LRT and DBoS. Bearing in mind that
the Development Fund Account (cmd. 7 of 2017) has been reduced to RM952, 930
(est. bal. at 31.12.2018) from RM5, 339,456(31.12.2015). Can the CM show us
where the RM4.3 billions went, what developments has been brought by the money
spent over the past 3 years?
With
RM5.745 billions, why can’t Sarawak government emulate the Penang (RM1.3
billion budget) and Selangor government (RM3.12 billion) in tackling the rising
cost of living for the less fortunate and table a budget for all?
The budget of Sarawak is
the largest among all the states in Malaysia but on the other hand we are still
one of the poorest states in Malaysia. There must be something wrong and the BN
government must be held answerable.
A good budget is more
than just numbers or the reserve we hold but how it affects and helps the
peoples to be financially independent, care for the less privileged and be able
to achieve a balanced distribution for all sectors of society through the
government ministries.
There has been an over
centralization of power and fiscal allocations in the hand of the Chief
Minister and yet the BN law makers do not utter a single word of concern or
cast any doubt on the distribution of power and that is why the rakyat has
placed all their hope on the PR’s elected wakil to speak out for them in this
Dewan.
In the 2018 State
Budget, out of the estimated Operating Expenditure of RM2,481 million, RM646.2
million (26%) was allocated to the three ministries headed by the Chief
Minister, leaving the remaining RM697.5 million (74%) to be shared by the other
10 ministries.
Out of the estimated
Development Expenditure of RM5,744 million, RM4,048 million (70.5%) was
allocated to the three ministries headed by the Chief Minister, leaving the
remaining RM1,697 million (29.5%) to be shared by the other 10 ministries.
Such concentration of
power defies the principles of economic efficiency and accountability and maybe
that’s why we are still the poorest state in the country
The state government
budget over the years has the following characteristics; Structural flaws
1) Over
centralization of power in a person and he controls it all.
Nothing in the Barisan
Nasional spending plans indicated any political will to tackle structural
problems blamed for the state’s lack of developments. The CM decision is final
and his cabinet and the BN’s Aduns as we see it only toe his line.
There are 13 ministries and the CM controls more than 60 % of the annual budget
which is evidence of the over centralization of power.
2) Corruption,
poor governance and political patronage remain widespread.
Recently, the Forestry
department released logs and machineries worth some RM 7 million from illegally
logging and yet the second minister for natural resources didn’t know about it
while another minister called for a investigation by the anti corruption
agency.
More
than 3,500 logs and 14 units of heavy machinery were handed over to the Forest
Department by SFC for appropriate action, the report said.
Commenting on this, Sarawak Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and
Sports Abdul Karim told The Borneo Post: “Even the director of forests has to
make a statement that the decision is not his but (that of) the committee. I
smell a rat here and wish to see a more thorough investigation. MACC should
also look into this matter and whether there is any element of officials acting
beyond their powers. I am just not happy when I read about this matter.”
We would like the
minister n charged to give this House and the people a full account of the
incident or be removed from his office.
3) Insufficient
time and chances for debate on the budget
Often, the government
Bills and Budget is passed in a hurry without allowing sufficient time to
debate which is most unacceptable as the Bills and Budgets passed has a direct
impact on the peoples and yet their representatives are not given the time and
chances to deliberate on and probe on the rationale behind the critical choices
and allocation.
This has happened again
in this session where the opposition law makers were given the Bills at the
eleventh hour and we want the CM to respond to this in his winding up speech whether
it was done deliberately to stop the opposition law makers from having
sufficient time to do research and making sure the Bills are not challenged in
this Dewan.
The House clearly lacks
the bipartisan spirit that puts the interests of the rakyat above politics and
that’s why there is never a healthy debate on the Budget for the past decades
as the BN law makers are seen as the mere rubber stamp of the executive branch.
How can we have good governance under the circumstances?
4) Poorest
not getting access to aids
According to the
Malaysian Economic Monitor April report to the Economic Planning Unit, only 27%
of the country’s poorest 10% had received help from the government.
This is especially
serious in Sarawak as we have one of the highest poverty rates in Malaysia and
many of our folks in the rural areas are without basic public utilities such as
piped water, electric power and clinics not to mention fire fighting facility.
And yet our CM is talking about …
Tuan
Speaker, I would like to raise the following issues affecting Sibu:
1) Tuan
Speaker, since 2011, I have raised many issues about the developments of Sibu
or rather the lack of them. Over the past 10 years, there is no new road or
link being built/constructed in Sibu and Sibu’s development has basically come
to a standstill.
I
have submitted a Sibu Outer Links’ proposal to the CM’s office in October 2015
and urged our CM to have it adopted into the 2016 budget. The 70 million
proposal will ease the heavy traffic jam and solve the problem of the lack of
connectivity among the densely populated residential and commercial areas in
Sibu as well as pave the way to develop a low cost housing hub in Sibu.
After
our press release, member for Bawan Assan told the press that he has a better
plan which cost some 100 millions but until today we have not seen his plan at
all. If he has one, for the benefit of the people of Sibu, I can assure him and
the government that DAP will give 100% support.
Tuan
Speker, to deny Sibu the necessary budget in 2016, 2017 and again in 2018 is to
totally cut Sibu out of the state development, the BN state government is incontempt of
the people of Sibu as we don’t see any reason for the CM to refuse a proposal
which is good for Sibu even if that proposal was initiated by the DAP.
I
must put on record that member from Bawan Assan, Dudong and Nangka have failed
the people of Sibu in allowing Sibu been marginalised while holding the
position of a state cabinet minister, the Chairman of the SMC and an assistant
minister respectively.
2) Tuan Speaker, I am talking about the economy
of Sibu and central region of Sarawak.
Over the past decades
we have seen Sibu slid from the past glory of the timber hub in Sarawak, the
town which owns the most number of Sarawak local banks, the second biggest town
in Sarawak. and even worst hit were the smaller towns in central region of
Sarawak such as Meradong, Kanowit, Pekan, Julau.
There seems to be no
hope at all for these towns in central Sarawak as they were been ignored and
marginalized by the BN governments, youths start leaving their hometown looking
for employment, companies start leaving for other parts of the country and
overseas.
Tuan Speaker, look at
the logging companies in Pupua New Ginea, Solomon, Africa and elsewhere, most
of them came from central Sarawak!
We must seek other
industry to replace the sunset logging industry in central Sarawak and to bring
jobs for the locals and create a second economy boom for Sibu that will also
spill over to the smaller towns in central Sarawak.
I am talking about the
rubber wood and rubber-based industries. Our deputy CM Datuk Amar Douglas has
on 20th March 2017 spoken of the need to set up a Master Plan
for the rubber industry and stated that tyre manufacturers are keen to invest
in Sarawak, if the state has sufficient rubber plantation to support the
industry. He said he was informed of this by the Malaysia Rubber Board D-G
during a meeting.I would like the deputy CM to address this House during his
winding up speech on this issue.
Tuan Speaker, our
previous deputy CM Datuk Patinggi Alfred Jabu has stated in 2013 that another
20,000 hectares of land has been opened up for rubber plantation in the state
in addition of the existing 16,000 hectares of matured plantation and 8,250
hectares which had been cultivated in 2012. He further stated the government
has targeted to open up 250,000 hectares of rubber plantation across the state
by 2020.
Tuan Speaker, I met a
Malaysian who tried to start off the Rubber wood processing factory in Sibu. He
has obtained
the export license, but he can’t get the license to build a rubber wood factory
or mill in Sibu. In order to obtain the production and processing license, the
government want the company to go to Tg. Manis to buy an industrial lot.
The
assistant minister for Industrial development in his oral reply to my question
on the10th October 2018 has said that this industry needs to be driven by the
private sector not knowing that the private sector has approached the ministry
and was turn away by the bureaucrats and red tapes of the government.
The
private company’s spokesman disclosed that the government expect every small
plantation owner to go to the Forest Department to apply for a clearance
license. This burdens the small plantation owners immensely. He questions the
need of the small plantation owners to obtain clearance license from the Forest
department since own rubber trees were planted unlike the natural wood.
Sarawak has abundant
supply of rubber wood which all these while has been left to rot simply because
the state government does not have any idea how big is the industry.
The main usage of rubber
wood is the rubber wood furniture, when it comes to rubber wood furniture; the
most famous is Muar in Johor. Muar is a furniture city, 60% or more of the
country’s annual export of furniture is from Muar. The main furniture
export is the rubber wood furniture because of its beauty and generous grains,
annual revenue of the Rubber Wood Furniture and rubber wood is estimated to be
in the region of RM 8-10 billion.
Each year the export and
local demand of rubber wood raw materials is up to hundreds thousands cubic
meters, every each cubic meter the government tax RM 120, bringing in millions
of tax revenue for the government.
The exports of rubber wood products also bring
in billions in revenue. Hundreds of thousands of jobs
opportunities had been created the various sectors along the way.
At one time,
all the factories in West Malaysia can only be set up at industrial area
but now all the rubber wood processing factories were allowed to be set up near
the rubber plantation instead of industrial zone, rubber wood factories are
allowed on agriculture land. Our state government can ascertain the truth of
this by giving their colleague in west Malaysia a call.
Tuan Speaker, instead of
what the assistant minister given in his reply to me that to set up a
processing mill, one has to go to ICG, SEIDC, Forestry department and
department of environment, it is the job of the government to cut red tapes and
coordinate and help the investors to get all the necessary ministries,
departments, authorities to work together to make it easy for the investors.
3) Local Authority of SMC and SRDC
Tuan Speaker, the
ordinary people really are not that demanding and just want the government to
deliver the basic services and amenities that can be delivered through the
local authorities and local councils.
In Sibu, there are two
local councils, the SMC and the SRDC, these two councils are tasked to provide
the basic services from providing street lighting, disposal of garbage,
cleaning of drains, maintenance of roads and general hygiene of the town and
residential district.
Yet, the two councils
have failed to deliver the basic and people are generally angry at the
government because they perceive the local council’s performance as a yardstick
of the state government’s.
I have dealt with the
local councils and know their predicament although I don’t sympathize with
them. Their basic problems are the lack of funds which made them unable to
respond positively.
Tuan Speaker, let’s look
at the 2018 budget, how much did the state government grants to these two local
councils? SMC gets RM 1.5 million while SRDC gets RM 1.8 million.
Tuan Speakers, do you
think that’s sufficient? Our local councils have limited channels of funding
and the fund they collected from the assessment rates, licenses are definitely
insufficient to provide for the services that they are tasked with.
However, we are totally
disappointed that our second finance minister and member for Bawan Assan, the
Chairman of the SMC since 2005 who is also the present member of Dudong and the
assistant minister for Housing who is also the member for Nangka failed to live
up to the expectation to bring more funding for the local councils of Sibu.
But no thanks to the
president of the SUPP and Minister in charge of Local governments who had
delivered some very eloquent speech about wanting the local councils not to
worry about funding when he was appointed the minister last year. What a shame!
Tuan Speaker, Sibu folks
are not interested in the political squabble between the SUPP and UPP but
please don’t let this affect the performance of the local councils.
With that I conclude my
address and I hope the CM and the relevant ministers will respond to the issues
brought up and the CM has the wisdom to amend the budget to address the issues
and concerns and the problems raised by the opposition members of this House as
well.
