KUCHING, April 30: Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak has pledged to give Sarawakians petro cash dividends, if the opposition coalition forms the federal government.
Malaysia is heading for its 14th general election (GE14) this May 9.
Elaborating on PH’s “7 Guarantees for Sarawak within 1 year” manifesto today, state PH chairman Chong Chieng Jen and candidate for Stampin said of the 20 per cent petroleum royalties, 10 per cent of the revenue will be declared as dividends.
Thus, if Sarawak’s 20 per cent of royalty totals up to RM6 billion a year, 10 per cent (RM600 million) will be given as cash dividends.
When asked how the mechanism will work, Chong said, “We will work that out when we form the federal government. But we will guarantee you that this will be implemented within one year.”
He added that the rationale behind this move is for every Sarawakian to feel the fruits of Sarawak’s natural resources.
“This 10 per cent of the revenue will go into every Sarawakian’s hands and they can proudly say that this is my dividend from oil and gas extracted from Sarawak. This fund will be paid out every year so long as PH is the federal government, to every single Sarawakian regardless of age, income, race and gender.
“The amount of RM6 billion per year is quite a conservative estimate, which we calculated based on the price of petrol at USD55 per barrel,” he said.
The other points in PH’s pledge are RM1 billion for the repair and upgrading of dilapidated rural schools and provision of facilities and increase in staffing; subsidised public bus services in all major towns; expedite the process of identity card registration and birth certificate applications; and rectifying mistakes in names, addressed and religions on identity cards.
They also guarantee a stable price support system for farmers especially those involved in the supply of raw rubber and pepper.
“All religions in Sarawak will have equitable access to development in line with Article 3 and Article 11 of the Federal Constitution. All religions shall enjoy equitable distribution of building funds and land for the construction of places of worship and religious activities.
“And lastly, solar, micro hydro and biogas for power options for all rural communities that are still without electricity. We will not support the provisions of federal government loans or grants for the construction of any mega hydro electric dams,” he added.
Among those who attended the press conference were state Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) chairman Baru Bian, state AMANAH chairman Fidzuan Zaidi and Democratic Action Party (DAP) Bandar Kuching candidate Dr Kelvin Yii. — DayakDaily
