Sarawak party demands Guan Eng apologise for misleading arrears statement

KUCHING, Jan 8 — Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng owes Sarawakians an apology for misleading Malaysians about the arrears owed by the state to Putrajaya, a local political party leader said today.

State Reform Party (STAR) president Lina Soo added that the federal minister should not attempt to prolong the issue after Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Abang Johari Openg clarified yesterday that his government has met its financial obligations on schedule as stipulated in the agreements between the state and federal governments.

“Hurling baseless accusations in public against the Sarawak state government when it has a track record of meeting its financial commitments is uncalled for, especially from one who has the stature of a federal finance minister,” she said.

She explained that as a component state of the Federation of Malaysia, Sarawak does not obtain loans from international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank or Japan Softbank to fund its development.

She pointed out that international borrowing is done through the federal Ministry of Finance (MoF).

She believes that since the 1980s, MoF gets loans from Japan at very low rates of interest such as at 1.5 per cent and then releases the funds, for example, to the Sarawak government, at a higher interest rate such as 4 to 5 per cent.

“These financial packages come in different sizes at different interest rates and for varied projects, and at no time has Sarawak been known to default in its payments,” Soo said.

Instead of making baseless accusations against Sarawak, Lim should get down to managing the national economy for greater productivity and to generate more jobs, Soo added.

The public spat between Sarawak and Putrajaya started when Lim reminded the state government of its RM2.5 billion debt in response to state Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Karim Rahman Hamzah’s request for its RM2.7 million share of the tourism tax.

The federal minister also said then that Sarawak has RM50 million in arrears, which Abang Johari subsequently denied.

The chief minister also clarified that Sarawak’s outstanding debt with the federal government was RM2.38 billion, and not RM2.5 billion, as Lim said.