Sarawak MP backs CM’s move to take over education, health from Putrajaya

Santubong MP Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar. (Bernama pic)

KUCHING: A Sarawak lawmaker has lauded Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg’s decision to seek decentralisation or devolution of authority over education and health matters in the state.

However, Santubong MP Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said even if these powers were to be devolved to the state, the implementation must be in tandem with the current practice of the central government that oversees the functions of the ministries concerned.

He said the devolution of powers should not be used as an excuse to discontinue the provision of funds and human resources for both areas.

He was commenting on Abang Johari’s statement on Thursday that the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government would seek devolution of authority over education and health matters due to the federal government’s “unsatisfactory” performance in the state.

“There is sufficient constitutional authority under Article 95C(1)(b) read with Article 80(4) for the federal government to transfer the executive functions for this matter to the state as well as to provide adequate funding to the state to discharge these executive functions,” Abang Johari had said.

Wan Junaidi said the Sarawak government should be given the freedom to design its own way of providing health and education access to Sarawakians because it understood their needs better.

Furthermore, the provision of allocation for matters concerning education and health in Sarawak could be turned into the federal government’s political tool, causing difficulties to the state, he said.

“About 40% of Sarawakians are still living in rural areas and the situation might continue for the next 10 to 20 years.

“Those in West Malaysia see that the rural people are difficult to handle in terms of housing, water supply and electricity but you cannot marginalised the rural people simply because you are from the city,” he told FMT.

Wan Junaidi said many people had failed to understand the issue of dilapidated schools in the state, which had yet to be resolved as they had to wait for the federal government’s reply.

In the past, a lot of focus had been given to improving the facilities in urban areas, resulting in the needs of those living in the interior being overlooked, he said, adding that most of the government policies were peninsula-centric.

For example, he said the idea of 1Malaysia clinics, which had been re-branded as community clinics after the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government came into power, was based on converting shop houses into clinics and could not be adapted in rural areas. - FMT