Focus on specific needs in Sabah and Sarawak, budget planners told

 

Political leaders in Sabah have pointed out that the state needs more money to help combat hardcore poverty.

PETALING JAYA: The government should take a more decentralised and needs-based approach in preparing budget allocations for Sabah and Sarawak, economists said.

Madeline Berma of Institut Masa Depan Malaysia said it was important for the government to focus on specific needs, especially on poverty, transport and unemployment.

“Sarawak and Sabah have high poverty rates. Sabah has the highest incidence of absolute poverty at 19.4%. Sarawak is registered as the third highest at 9%.

“They also need to develop road transport. This would lead to lower costs, increased economic opportunities and increased access to health services and education facilities for rural communities,” she told FMT.

She said funding in the 2023 budget was insufficient. The government had provided RM6.5 billion and RM5.6 billion to Sabah and Sarawak respectively.

In March, senior Gabungan Rakyat Sabah leader Jeffrey Kitingan said the amount was not enough, given the states’ land mass and Sabah had eight of the 10 poorest districts in the country.

He said the allocations to Sabah and Sarawak amounted to only 13% of the total development budget of RM99 billion.

Firdausi Suffian of Sabah UiTM said the two states needed a bigger chunk of the budget to rebuild or upgrade the states’ schools and roads.

Although the government has given autonomy to the two state governments to approve projects of less than RM50 million, Firdausi said that more decentralisation is needed as the state governments may be better equipped to deal with certain issues.

The federal government must facilitate this process. “They will also need to focus on upskilling civil servants and improving certain processes,” he said.

The 2024 federal budget will be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on Oct 13. - FMT