KUCHING, Sept 26 — Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg said today he has plans to further elevate Sarawak’s revenue in the next five years if Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) is given the mandate in the next state election to continue governing.
Although he declined to reveal further details, the chief minister said the state sales tax (SST) on oil and gas products was only the tip of the iceberg of what he had in mind for Sarawak’s revenue.
“God willing in the next five years, there is still more to come, more than just the 5 per cent SST for our oil and gas and other natural resources. (But) I’m not going to reveal it yet.
“In the next five years, if Sarawakians continue to give mandate to GPS, Sarawak will become a much greater state than it is today.
“I’m very confident and I know what I’m doing. We know what we are doing. We have a direction,” he said at the opening of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Special Convention in Betong this morning.
On September 17, Petronas paid some RM2.9 billion in SST to Sarawak for the year 2019. This is on top of SST paid by other oil and gas companies operating in the state, to which Abang Johari said amounted to over RM3 billion, just for the year 2019.
“Our future is bright. I can say that our revenue will increase. The SST is only the tip of the iceberg,” he said.
Abang Johari said apart from the state’s natural resources, the state government will also focus on education such as in the setting up of five international schools in the state.
He said the reason why the state government had decided to set up the international schools was to give young Sarawakians the opportunity to develop their talents.
He said at the moment, international schools with high standards of syllabus have very expensive fees that only high-income parents would be able to afford.
“We have many international schools, but only the rich can afford, so the lower income group does not have that opportunity. RM30,000 for one term, the fee is very steep. So the lower income how? No matter how smart they are, they would not be able to compete because of financial disadvantage.
“So we decided to set up international schools specially for the lower income group, free of charge,” said Abang Johari.
He said the state government was working closely with four internationally acclaimed universities in America and the United Kingdom through Yayasan Sarawak, where exceptional students from the international schools would be sent to further their studies. — Borneo Post
