Sarawak PH questions state govt’s initiative to pay off PTPTN loans

The Sarawak government has allocated RM30 million to help Sarawakian students repay their PTPTN loans. (Bernama pic)

KUCHING: Sarawak Pakatan Harapan (PH) has questioned the state government’s initiative to assist Sarawakian graduates to repay their National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) loans.

Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg, when tabling the state 2020 Budget, said the state government had allocated RM30 million to help Sarawakian students repay their PTPTN loans.

He said the assistance was not free as the state government would set up a special fund managed by Yayasan Sarawak to replace their PTPTN loans.

The Sarawak government had decided to come up with this initiative to prevent PTPTN borrowers from getting blacklisted, Abang Johari said.

According to him, the state government would come up with the details for the special fund within six months.

“If they (PTPTN borrowers) are banned from going overseas, how will they be able to travel and look for jobs?” Abang Johari asked.

However, Sarawak PKR deputy chairman Baharuddin Mokhsen said the federal government, in June last year, had removed the names of more than 400,000 PTPTN borrowers from the immigration blacklist.

It was part of the PH’s 100-day pledge to fulfil its manifesto made during the 14th general election, he said.

Baharuddin said he had received inquiries from PTPTN borrowers about the state government’s move and whether the Yayasan Sarawak loans would affect their creditworthiness.

“Abang Johari should get his mechanism ready before making any announcement because it sounds more like an election campaign by the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government,” he told FMT.

Meanwhile, Sri Aman PPBM youth chief Alexander Frusis described the RM30 million allocated by the state government for PTPTN borrowers as merely “political rhetoric” to gain more political support, particularly from the youths.

He urged the Sarawak chief minister to stop spreading fake news that students with PTPTN loans would be barred from travelling overseas.

DAP’s lawmaker Kelvin Yii also urged Abang Johari not to mislead the public and give the false impression that the state government is paying off the PTPTN debts when actually it is not.

“Basically, in principle, the state government is not paying off the loans as promised, but rather just providing another ‘loan to pay off the loan’,” he said.

Yii also said the PH government had reviewed the travel ban list and allowed PTPTN borrowers to renew their passports and travel overseas.

“Now, we are working on a more fair and effective mechanism to try and fulfil the other half of the promise, which is for borrowers to start paying once their salary reaches RM4,000.

“When we first took over PTPTN, we weren’t fully aware of the debts that we inherited. For PTPTN alone, we may need to bear debts up to RM40 billion.

“That is why since last year, PTPTN has travelled around the country to get feedback from different stakeholders to come up with a better and more comprehensive mechanism that is not too burdensome on borrowers.

“This will give the chance for future borrowers to fulfil their higher education ambitions,” he said. - FMT