Revise Sabah’s budget to spend more for recovery, says MP

 

Sabah’s budget for 2022, with a surplus of RM110 million, was tabled yesterday at the state assembly. (Bernama pic)

KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah opposition MP has slammed the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government for tabling a surplus state budget, saying it should have spent more to help the state economy recover from Covid-19.

Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin said chief minister Hajiji Noor should revise the state budget for 2022, which he tabled yesterday, and allocate not only more money for economic recovery but also for public works such as flood mitigation.

Hajiji had announced that the state government proposed to spend RM4.596 billion, with revenue estimated at RM4.707 billion, resulting in a surplus budget of RM110.68 million.

However, Chan said: “It is not time for the GRS government to run a conservative budget with the aim of merely providing sufficient funding for each department to survive the year without any additional plans or assistance whatsoever.”

Chan Foong Hin.

He said even the federal government had proposed a deficit budget of RM332 billion with an estimated revenue of RM234 billion.

Chan said Sabah’s conservative budget would lead to residents near the outskirts of the state capital, who experience frequent water disruptions, to expect their water woes to continue well into 2022.

“Other than that, people in Likas, Kolombong and Inanam foresee that flash flooding and other problems will also continue,” Chan said. “It is such a shame that the state government sees no urgency in resolving basic livelihood issues of the people.”

He said the GRS government should have also taken the initiative to allocate funds for jobs creation or organising programmes which could lead to job opportunities in various sectors.

“According to the human resources ministry, a total of 2,667 youths in Sabah had lost their jobs between January and November this year, with the youth unemployment rate standing at 17.3%,” he said.

Besides that, Chan said the government should have come up with more economic stimulus packages, particularly for the hard-hit tourism sector, as well as wage and income subsidies, among others. - FMT