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KUCHING, July 28: Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen’s allegation that Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) assemblymen could donate seven times more funding than him to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is untrue.
In stating this, political secretary to Premier of Sarawak, Kho Teck Wan was referring to Chong’s statement published in a Chinese daily on July 20 where the latter indicated that each federal MP has RM2 million in funds as financial grants to NGOs or schools.
As the MP for Stampin, Chong concluded that he could allocate RM660,000 to each State constituency in his area, namely Kota Sentosa, Batu Kitang and Batu Kawah.
He then claimed that at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) level, each GPS assemblyman receives an annual allocation of RM9 million which is seven times more than the amount allocated for MPs.
Following this, Kho has said that Chong’s remark is untrue as she clarified that from the RM9 million annual allocation for GPS assemblyman, only RM2 million is meant for financial grants for NGOs while the remaining RM7 million is for infrastructure development, repairing of dilapidated houses and agriculture development.
“Unlike what was claimed by Chong, Sarawak government practises transparent and strict control of the fund usage, therefore, the RM 7 million allocated is not intended for donation purposes.
“I would like to caution Chong that each public funding has its specific usage and shall not be misused for any other purposes,” she said in a statement today.
On the other hand, Kho mentioned that the funding for MPs have increased from RM1.3 million to RM1.7 million to the latest RM3 million.
“It means an MP would have RM1 million for each of the three State constituencies under Stampin (federal) constituency.
“I am glad that many more NGOs can now have more funding from Chong,” she added. — DayakDaily
