KUCHING, Feb 4 — Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah has expressed hope that some of the revenues collected by Sarawak last year could be channelled to her Ministry for Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, meant to further empower the women in Sarawak.

Elaborating, she said such allocation would be utilised as capital grants slated for women engaged in the cottage industry and others within the small and medium-sized business sector.

"Such grants can help them (women) purchase equipment and raw materials for their business. Such social enterprise is crucial in addressing hardcore poverty in both the rural and urban areas,” she said in a statement issued yesterday.

Adding on, Fatimah said her ministry would also welcome allocations meant to be the subsidies for working parents who are sending their children to registered private ‘taska’ (nurseries).

The minister regarded such a facility as ‘an important support system, which could help retain women in the workforce and increase their productivity at work’.

Fatimah’s statement was made in response to the announcement by Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg on Feb 2, about Sarawak’s actual revenue performance for the fiscal 2022 having surpassed its projected revenue by 17 per cent — from RM10.2 billion up to RM11.9 billion.

Commenting further on this, Fatimah attributed the record-high revenue to ‘the maverick revenue-engineering by Abang Johari’ through the State Sales Tax (SST).

She also acknowledged the Premier’s deep sense of purpose and clear vision of what he wanted for the state’s economy and its people, as well as his unwavering commitment in achieving such vision, ‘even if he had to go through uncharted seas or unfamiliar territories’. — Borneo Post Online