Bung: Give Sabah 10pct of federal budget, we will manage it ourselves

 

PARLIAMENT | BN's Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin has suggested that the federal government allocate 10 percent of its annual budget to Sabah.

He said this might solve the issue of the state being the poorest in the country, adding that the allocation should be managed by Sabahans themselves instead of the federal government.

“I have been hearing that Sabah is the poorest state since I was 10. I kept wondering what is causing Sabah to get poorer by the day?

“So for the budget that is being tabled, if it’s possible please allocate 10 percent of the overall budget to Sabah.

“In the past, it was RM5 billion, now it’s (still) RM5 billion and the delivery is very slow which is worrying Sabahans,” he said during the parliamentary debate on Budget 2022 this afternoon.

Bung argued that the landmass of Sabah and Sarawak combined would eclipse that of the peninsula, and hence allocation for the two Borneo states and its MPs should be proportionate to their states and constituencies’ sizes and needs.

He said systems and administrations need to improve as time goes by and that he has repeatedly suggested allocation from the federal budget be managed by the states as the locals would be well attuned to its needs.

“Give us the money and let Sabah implement them (the projects) and we will report whatever we implemented to the federal government.

“If we are given the allocation but it is managed by the federal government, I don’t see how Sabah will become a prosperous and developed state like Selangor, Penang or others,” he added.

Stable government

Bung also chastised Pakatan Harapan for its 22 months in power, saying that the change of the federal government last year caused some previous allocation to be discontinued.

“When the BN government lost, all the systems changed. If it was for the better I don’t mind, but it’s not.

“Our country was facing financial losses, and took in billions of debt as a result of (Harapan) government’s negligence,” he said.

He cited the example of the housing allocation, saying that the BN government previously allocated about 150 housing units for each parliamentary constituency, and the Harapan administration discontinued that allocation.

“Only when the government changed hands again did each constituency receive 15 units, it’s better than nothing,” he added.

Bung argued that this shows the need for a stable government as it is important for the welfare of the people so that manifestos and promises can be realised instead of turning into mere rhetorics.

Khalid’s rebuttal

The Kinabatangan MP’s words quickly received the attention of Amanah’s Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, who rebutted Bung's point for a stable government with sarcasm.

“I say thank you to the Kinabatangan MP for his repentance in bringing down the Harapan government and creating an unstable political environment.

“The Perikatan Nasional (PN) government has such a thin majority, that another change of government occurred after just a year.

“That was an irresponsible act caused by those hopping across parties and brought down the Harapan government which had a strong majority in the past,” he said.

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad

Khalid contended that it was betrayals that caused the unstable political environment in the country which persisted until now, and accused Bung of supporting the traitors.

“Apologise to the world, apologise to the people, for the acts of betrayal and the supporters of those traitors” he shouted to Bung in the Dewan Rakyat.

Sensing the criticism, Bung went on the defence by distancing himself from party hoppers, saying he agreed with Khalid on the issue of party hopping.

“We are the same, I don’t like people hopping around.

“When people were hopping around in Sabah, I was the last man standing who didn’t hop,” Bung said, receiving applause from others.

He then brought up the anti-hopping law proposed by Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said, who was coincidentally chairing the meeting at the time.

“I am definitely supporting it (anti-hopping law), I hope Shah Alam supports it too. We don’t want (MPs) hopping around,” he said, simmering down the tension between the two.

The parliamentary debate for Budget 2022 on policy levels will continue until Thursday before the winding-up session by ministries starting on Nov 15. - Mkini