KUCHING, March 11: There is no need for Sarawak to transfer any land to the Federal Land Commissioner (PTP) for the purpose of building schools, says Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president Voon Lee Shan.
“The Sarawak government needs to only tell the Federal government to build them,” he said in a statement today.
Voon stressed that the ownership transfer is seen as a land grab strategy by the Federal government.
“There are instances of land in the past which have been alienated to the Federal government but remained undeveloped. If they are sincere in helping Sarawak, why not just develop the land allocated to it?
“Are we going to surrender or transfer the Pan Borneo Highway to the Federal government just because funds for building the Pan Borneo Highway came from them?” he questioned.
He also mentioned a huge piece of land somewhere in Telaga Air, Kuching, which was supposed to be used for a government office complex but had been left idle for more than 20 years.
Voon then urged the Sarawak government to see that before taxes are to be remitted into the Federal treasury, all taxes have to pass through the Sarawak Treasury first.
If not, he said Sarawak will have no control of taxes collected from the state.
“Without the ability to control the taxes collected, Sarawak will forever be begging for Federal funds to develop schools and other infrastructures in Sarawak,” he continued.
On Wednesday (March 9), Federal Deputy Education Minister II, Datuk Mohamad Alamin said the Education Ministry has identified 1,821 school sites that have yet to be transferred to the PTP.
Of the total, 587 school sites in Sarawak were identified for the ownership transfer process to PTP.
Alamin said according to the guidelines of the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) 2021-2025 issued by the Prime Minister’s Department, the implementation of development projects cannot be considered by central agencies for any school site that is not under the ownership of PTP yet.
“The ministry is committed to ensuring that all school sites are converted to PTP ownership by acquiring sites in accordance with the conditions set by the Federal Lands and Mines Department and the state governments,” he said when answering a question from Anyi Ngau (GPS-Baram). — DayakDaily
