KUCHING, Aug 5: SUPP youth states that there is no abuse of power for Sarawak government to pay its local councillors RM300 as fixed monthly allowance.
Instead, SUPP deputy youth chief Andrew Victor Nub applauded Sarawak government in its endeavor to pay the monthly fix allowance to all 745 local government councillors in Sarawak.
“There is no abuse of power whatsoever for the government to give a monthly allowances to these councillors.
“I would like to remind YB Willie that in 2018, Penang government appointed 48 individuals as councillors for both Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP) in which each councillor would receive a sum of RM 4,000 per month which makes of RM 2,500 monthly allowance, RM 1,200 meeting allowance and RM 300 telephone allowance.”
“Our Sarawak councillors prior to this appointment had never received any monthly allowance with the exception of meeting allowance of RM100 per meeting.
“For many years, our councillors were working hard to serve the community throughout Sarawak without making claims of not being paid, but rather doing the job with dedication as part of helping the society,” said Andrew in a statement today.
Andrew, who is also SUPP Mambong youth chief, was making reference to the recent allegation by Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin who had described Sarawak government’s move as “apparent abuse of power”.
Andrew said many councillors used their own resources to perform their council job but this year onwards, Sarawak government is giving them RM300 as a token of appreciation for their efforts.
“Compared to Penang, this amount is only as much as telephone allowance for their councillors,” said Andrew.
Meanwhile, Andrew also questioned Willie’s intention of bringing up Sarawak government’s allocation of RM2.7 million for councillors per annum while conveniently ignored the fact that everyday 850,000 barrels of oil worth at least RM200 million per day is taken from Sarawak to add on to the federal coffers.
“How much of this has PH government has spent on Sarawak? Why has he not talked about it?” Andrew asked.
Andrew said Sarawakians has been expecting Willie to speak out on their behalf and fight for what is rightfully Sarawak’s.
“Let me remind YB Willie, Sarawak has not seen any of the promises of Pakatan Harapan been delivered. Instead they are trying to divert their failure in fulfilling their promises by pointing fingers at GPS (Gabungan Parti Sarawak).”
Andrew said Willie should not find fault with Sarawak government but focus on what federal government can do for Sarawakians.
“This is his duty as a Member of Parliament,” said Andrew. — DayakDaily
