KUCHING, May 31: The total allocation received by the state government from the federal government for basic infrastructure development in the state is far below what is needed.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg disclosed that from the current available roads, only about 10 per cent was funded by the federal government, while the rest by the Sarawak government.
He said Sarawak currently has about 7,000 kilometers of rural roads consisting of 669 kilometres of federal-funded and 6,393 state-funded roads.
“We are not trying to make excuses and neither do we want to put the blame on others for the seeming lack of good infrastructure and amenities in Sarawak.
“But Sarawak needs more financial allocation from the federal government as one of the three parties to the formation of Malaysia.
“Sarawak has not been receiving monies as it should according to the provisions of the Federal Constitution,” said Abang Johari in his Gawai Dayak message.
He said with limited resources, Sarawak has been trying its best to improve rural infrastructure by drawing from state coffers.
“With all the limited resources at its disposal Sarawak has tried its best to improve public infrastructure and amenities in rural Sarawak with money from its own coffers.
“I sincerely hope the state can earn more revenue in the years to come through several measures already and that will be taken to enable the state government to finance infrastructure development in the rural areas,” said Abang Johari. — DayakDaily
