KUCHING, May 7 — Sarawak Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah issued an apology in the state legislative assembly today after the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government cancelled several projects to promote the hornbill state.
He said most of them were federal projects under the 11th Malaysia Plan, and were at an advanced stage of preparation for tenders to be called.
“At this juncture, I should let this August House know it is most unfortunate that since the PH took over the federal government, four of the approved tourism development projects by the federal Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia amounting to RM29.7 million have been cancelled,” he said.
He listed the axed projects as the Belaga Waterfront, Kampung Panchor Hotspring Improvement, Baram Waterfront and Upgrading of Tourism Facilities at Gunung Serumbu, Bau.
Karim said he had gone to Kuala Lumpur to meet the federal minister concerned to ask the latter to reconsider axing the projects.
“But the PH federal government prefers the money to be channelled to Kedah,” he said in his wind-up speech.
Karim urged federal ministers from Sarawak to do something about the cancelled projects, without elaborating on what he hoped they could do.
He then apologised to the assemblymen whose constituencies would have been developed if the federal tourism projects had proceeded as planned.
“I wish to apologise to you and you have to tell the people that these projects are not state government-funded,” he said.
Karim claimed that since PH took over Putrajaya, funding from the federal Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture in support events in Sarawak had dwindled further, from RM2.2 million in 2015 to only RM150,000 in 2018.
“Perhaps, the PH government is not promoting Sarawak just because it is ruled by a coalition in opposition to PH,” he said.
