By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, Nov 7: Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) believes that Dayaks in Sarawak have again been sidelined in Budget 2021 which was tabled by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz yesterday at the Parliament.
PBDS president Bobby William is disappointed that the budget did not include allocation specifically for the Dayak community and the recognition of the Dayak race in Malaysia.
Bobby in a statement said Budget 2021 was not inclusive and did not uphold the spirit of the Federation of Malaysia.
“When it comes to budget distribution, again, who are we Dayaks? We are not in sync with what is written in the Federal Constitution, we are nobody, we are stateless.
“RM4.5 billion is too small to distribute among the entire Sarawak division. Pro-rated, each division only entitled to RM370 million.
“Being one of the founding regions of the federation of Malaysia, Sarawak’s status and rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 need to be restored to its origin state in order to obtain equal allocations for developments,” he said.
Therefore, Bobby said it is important for the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government to look at the allocation of funds from the federal government seriously.
He said the Sarawak Government under GPS must play its role and acted as a bridge between the state and the federal government.
Bobby pointed out that Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg has to advocate what former Chief Minister the late Pehin Sri Adenan Satem or Tok Nan has stood up for the state.
On another note, Bobby said the Federal Constitution’s definition of ‘natives’ also needed to be updated, to be consistent with the Sarawak constitution as the term ‘Land Dayaks’, ‘Sea Dayaks’ and ‘Muruts’ have been updated as ‘Bidayuhs’, ‘Ibans’ and ‘Lun Bawangs’ respectively.
He added the list should also include other ethnic groups such as Kiputs, Terings, Tabuns, Bakongs, Mirieks, Lirungs, Tebalaus, Narums, and others who have long been omitted.
Apart from that, Bobby said the Majlis Adat Bumiputera should be replaced with Majlis Adat Istiadat Dayak while Native Court should be replaced with Dayak Court.
He opined that the national budget for the Native Customary Rights (NCR) land survey shall go through this institution to avoid further conflict between native law and civil law under Sarawak Land Code (SLC), whilst the institution shall be led by a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
“These will make them at par with the Civil Court and Syariah Court in strengthening the institution in Sarawak,” Bobby said.
Bobby added the Perikatan Nasional (PN) federal government should also reinstate Sarawak status as a constituent state, restoring the autonomous rights of Sarawak over oil and gas, proper budget allocation for the information and technology (IT) and internet development in rural areas throughout Sarawak and rotation of the prime minister position between Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak.
He said the National Registration Department (JPN) will need to be mobilised to settle the stateless issue in the rural areas of Sarawak that was left unfulfilled by the past Barisan Nasional (BN) administration. —DayakDaily
