KUCHING, June 22 — Claiming that Sarawak would become bankrupt within three years because of a large state Budget is a desperate move by DAP to win support, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) parliamentary chief whip Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said today.
He said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng is prepared to do anything, including claiming that the state would become bankrupt based on his simple mathematical calculation of the yearly state Budget of RM11 billion that would wipe out the state reserves of RM30 billion.
“If that is the way of a finance minister doing the calculation and financial analysis of a state, therefore, it is not surprising that the country’s economy at present is gloomy and the value of the ringgit declining, under his care,” Fadillah said.
He said Lim, who is also the finance minister, gave the impression that the GPS state government only knows how to spend without thinking that Sarawak generates its yearly revenue from its natural resources including oil and gas.
He said RAM Rating Services Bhd also gave recognition to the approach taken by the GPS government by describing the 2019 State Budget as necessary for the development of the state towards reducing the socio-economic gap between Sarawak and other states.
“As the finance minister, Lim should have brought good news each time he visits Sarawak by announcing allocations for projects in Sarawak, not uttering humiliating statements and scaring the people.
“The statement coming from the finance minister is irresponsible as it can affect the confidence of the foreign investors,” he said.
Lim, at a DAP dinner gathering here last night, had claimed that Sarawak would go bankrupt within three years after its reserves of RM30 billion had dried up, if it continued with allocating RM11 billion in its budget.
Separately, PBB information chief Datuk Idris Buang said Lim’s statement is not only an insult and a harassment, but is also an attempt to deceive the mind of the people.
He said such statement will not be easily acceptable in Sarawak as PH has failed to fulfill their pledges made in the 14th general election last year.
“As the new federal government, PH has obviously shown a lot of shortcomings and below par performances, U-turns and haphazardness either in policy-decisions or their implementation,” he said.
Idris, who is also the state assemblyman for Muara Tuang, cited many vital projects approved by the previous Barisan Nasional administration for Sarawak had either been cancelled, shelved or indefinitely postponed by the PH federal government.
He said a number of bridges, coastal roads, rural water and electrification programmes, multimedia coverage, reconstruction and upgrading of dilapidated schools and many more have now been carried on by the Sarawak state government out of necessity.
“Sarawakians are deeply disappointed upon knowing that these projects had been abandoned, jettisoned or ignored by the PH federal government,” Idris said.
“The one thing which is clear and obvious is that the majority of the people of Sarawak have realised that the PH coalition has not been sincere to them,” he said, and asked where were the 20 per cent oil and gas royalty, 50 per cent share in income tax revenue collected in Sarawak and the reduction in petrol price that were promised in the GE14.
