KUCHING, July 13: Sarawak Pakatan Harapan (PH) chief Chong Chieng Jen hopes the state government will reciprocate the goodwill of the federal government by giving state PH lawmakers at least 20 per cent of what Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) assemblymen get.
Referring to Batu Kawah assemblyman Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, Chong said the annual allocation for each Barisan Nasional (now Gabungan Parti Sarawak) assemblyman was RM9 million, where RM5 million is from the Rural Transformation Project (RTP) Fund and RM4 million from the Minor Rural Project (MRP) Fund.
“If the chief minister (Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg) and GPS want to be friendly to PH, then at least reciprocate with the same percentage, i.e. 20 per cent of the RM9 million,” said Chong at a press conference on the sidelines of the Sarawak Legislative Assembly sitting today.
He said the federal government had agreed to give allocations to opposition MPs, including those from GPS.
Chong, who is also Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs explained there were two categories of allocations, which includes RM200,000 per year for the running of service centres. It is for all MPs.
“Across the board, all are the same … PH or GPS MPs. All will receive the same,” said Chong, who is also Kota Sentosa assemblyman and Stampin MP.
He said the second category was RM500,000 for PH MPs and RM100,000 for opposition MPs, including those from GPS.
“At least, they (opposition MPs) get 20 per cent of our allocation for their ‘kawasan’ (constituency), on top of what they receive as office allocation.”
During the reign of the Barisan Nasional (BN), opposition MPs received nothing from the federal government.
“I call upon the state government that at the very least they (Sarawak government) should give (an allocation) equal, if not better, to what we have offered in terms of allocation for ‘kawasan’ because they (Sarawak government) don’t give allocations for office operations.” — DayakDaily
