SIBU, Sept 8: This town hopes it will not be left out of the 2023 National Budget following a recent dialogue session attended by Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah.
Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) vice president Councilor Teo Boon Siew said the said dialogue session was organised by Dudong assemblyman Dato Sri Tiong King Sing for Shahar to know more about Sibu’s problems.
“During the two days he was here, Shahar met with various communities, industry players, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and government agencies to listen and learn about the problems experienced by Sibu.
“Various problems have been voiced to him including flood problems, business, infrastructure and so on for the attention of the central government,” Teo said at a press conference here today.
Teo, who is also the PDP Deputy Chairman of the Central Region Division, said that Shahar had noted down every problem voiced by the dialogue participants, and he is expected to bring them to the attention of the central government.
According to him, Shahar was surprised to know of Sibu’s many problems
“We hope that there will be good news for the people of Sibu in the 2023 Budget that will be announced on October 7.
“It is hoped that the problems presented to him through the dialogue session will be able to be solved through the 2023 Budget later,” he added.
Teo said the dialogue session organised by Tiong was the first to be held involving the Deputy Minister of Finance from the federal government who himself went to the ground to hear the people’s problems.
“We hope that this kind of dialogue will continue to be held in the future and that it will not be the first and the last for the people of Sibu because we are still facing many problems that need to be solved,” he added.
Also present at the press conference were Central Region PDP chairman Datuk Lau Cheng Kiong and Central Region PDP vice chairman Wong Ung. — DayakDaily
