KUCHING, April 26: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) president Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian urged voters to ensure a big win for Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) in the coming general election (GE14) so that the state government will pursue the return of the state’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), including its oil and gas rights.
If given the mandate, the state BN would then be able to increase the state’s expenditure and budget for more development projects without relying fully on the federal government, he added.
Speaking during the Sarawak Health Department Members’ Retirement Ceremony at a hotel here this afternoon, Dr Sim said the state has been able to earn about RM15 billion a year from its oil and gas resources.
On top of that, he added, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and income tax contributions from Sarawak totalled to about RM3 to RM4 billion a year.
“If continued to be given the mandate, they (Sarawak BN government) will build a lot of facilities like better hospitals, schools, roads, and I told Abang Johari that we can even do more.
“Look at Brunei for example, their citizens are all tax exempted. I see no reason we (Sarawak government) cannot do that.
“I also told Abang Johari that we should start our own sovereign fund. We only use about 25 per cent of the revenue for our government budget. So this is one of the things we can do in the government.
“So please pray that we (BN) will win big in Sarawak, as stated in the national BN manifesto (for GE14) Sarawak’s rights will be returned back, and we want our oil money instead of sharing with all the other states in Malaysia with 31 million population; why not we share with 3 million Sarawakians first?” said Dr Sim. — DayakDaily
