Sarawak DAP defends Guan Eng over allocations for school repairs

 

Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg said he had not forgotten how Lim Guan Eng had asked the state government to pay off its debt before providing aid to repair schools.

PETALING JAYA: A DAP leader has defended Lim Guan Eng against allegations that the former finance minister had demanded Sarawak settle its RM1 billion debt to Putrajaya before allocations to repair dilapidated schools were set aside.

Chong Chieng Jen also accused Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg of “maliciously twisting facts”.

The Sarawak DAP chairman said allocations for the repair of dilapidated schools in the state had been made in Budget 2019.

Chong said that the RM1 billion allocation requested by the state government was over and above the allocations approved by Parliament in Budget 2019.

Therefore, the additional allocation would need to be approved by Parliament via Supplementary Supply Bills, he said. The federal government would also need to find additional source of revenue to finance the additional expenditure, Chong added.

Chong said the Sarawak government at the time owed Putrajaya billions of ringgit in loans.

Under the normal process, any repayment of loan by a state government to the federal government would go into the consolidated fund and would subsequently be channelled to various states for different projects and programmes, Chong said.

He said Lim’s offer to channel back the repayment of RM1 billion as a direct grant for the repair of dilapidated schools in Sarawak was an extraordinary offer, as preferential treatment was given to the state.

“It is a gesture of goodwill. Any person who understands the workings of government financing process and procedure would appreciate such preferential treatment,” Chong said in a statement.

Chong urged Abang Johari not to engage in gutter politics by twisting facts.

“A person with the stature of a premier of a state should not stoop so low to try to win some political points through such cheap shots and misrepresentation.”

On Saturday, Abang Johari said he had not forgotten how Lim had asked the Sarawak state government to pay off its debt of RM2.352 billion before the federal government would provide aid to repair schools in the state.

“I was challenged by the finance minister at the time, who asked Sarawak to pay its loan to the Pakatan Harapan government first.

“The Sarawak government responded to the challenge by paying RM1 billion in advance to the central government,” Abang Johari said. - FMT