KUCHING, Jan 30: Parti Bangsa Dayak Sarawak Baru (PBDSB) Women chief Sylvia John Gemok wants the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government to pay its dues to Sarawak.
In a statement yesterday, Sylvia pointed out that last week, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng told the media that a sum of RM137.035 billion was collected through direct taxes in 2018 and earlier before that, he stated that Sarawak owed the federal government more than RM2.5 billion as of November 30, last year.
”From what Lim said, the amount collected from tax collection should be enough to repay (refund) to both the states of Sabah and Sarawak, that is 40 per cent as a result of this net collection. However, Lim gave an improper reason.
”Under the Malaysia Agreement 1963, the federal government must pay the 40 per cent. Now, 55 years old the federal government is in debt to the Sarawak government. We also need the money to develop our state and also to repair our facilities so that we are at par with the federal government.
“Besides, we need money for human capital development,” Sylvia said.
She added that if this criteria is not met, it is likely to cause hatred and doubt over the federal government.
Sylvia pointed that is still backward and what Malaya is doing now is not what was promised during the formation of Malaysia.
”The treaty seems to be ignored by Malaya like the way they have denied the rights of Sarawakians over the years. These problems are seen to be trivial to them,” she said. — DayakDaily
