By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Nov 4: Batu Kitang assemblyman Dato Lo Khere Chiang has called on the Democratic Action Party (DAP) to focus their efforts on securing higher Federal funding for Sarawak, rather than criticising the Sarawak government’s development spending.
Lo said that instead of questioning Sarawak’s financial commitments to essential projects, DAP leaders should use their positions in Putrajaya to demand that Sarawak receives a fair share of Federal operating and development allocations.
“If the Member for Stampin and his colleagues are sincere, they should be using their position in Putrajaya to secure Federal operating and development funds, not asking Sarawakians to ‘pay again’ from our own State reserves,” he said in a statement responding to Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen’s recent statement calling for the state government to step in for the provision of non-profit private hospitals.
Lo stressed that healthcare is a Federal responsibility, yet it is the Sarawak Government that has stepped forward to finance the Sarawak Cancer Centre — ensuring patients no longer need to leave their families and fly to Kuala Lumpur for treatment.
“It is the same with public transport,” he added. “Penang’s LRT is fully funded by the Federal Government. But when Sarawak builds the ART using our own resources, suddenly they say it is unnecessary.”
He drew similar parallels with the proposed increase in State Legislative Assembly (DUN) seats, which DAP leaders have criticised as wasteful.
“They say it is to ‘save money’. Yet they do not fight for Sarawak to receive fair Federal development allocations based on our size, geography, and contribution to the nation,” he said.
“If saving money was truly their principle, they would be demanding higher Federal funding, not blocking Sarawak’s development.”
Lo underscored that Sarawak’s development spending stems from necessity, not extravagance.
“The Sarawak Government spends because we cannot wait. Cancer patients cannot wait. Rural families cannot wait. Our students and our children’s future cannot wait,” he said. – DayakDaily
