Budget 2014 No rewards for East Malaysia for gifting Fed Govt

After helping deliver the Federal Government to the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the general election, Sabahans and Sarawakians probably expected a bag brimming with goodies in the Budget 2014 tabled by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today.

However, rewards heaped on East Malaysians were far from lavish.

Themed 'Strengthening economic resilience, accelerating transformation and fulfilling promises', the Borneo states do not get major budget cheers.

Among the goodies for Sarawakians are air transport improvement which include the upgrade of three airports in Sarawak – Miri, Sibu and Mukah; RM75 million allocated for the supply of water tanks in Sarawak; RM130 million to subsidise rural air transport, especially for the rural population in Sabah and Sarawak.

To increase Internet access in Sabah and Sarawak, new undersea cables will be laid within three years, at a cost of RM850 million.

Samalaju Industrial Park and a halal hub in the Sarawak Regional Corridor are among the five regional corridors that will be allocated RM1.6 billion for development.

“The Government is aware that the Bumiputera minority particularly in Sabah and Sarawak face challenges in owning customary land. For this, the Government will allocate RM50 million for land surveying and customary land ownership verification,” Najib said.

“The Government is aware that prices of essential goods are more expensive in Sabah and Sarawak compared with Peninsular Malaysia, due to higher shipping and distribution costs.

To help reduce prices of goods and costs, the Government will allocate a sum of RM331 million to continue the price uniformity programme and subsidies including transport cost,” he said.

Additionally, the prime minister said 60 Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M) will be established with an allocation of RM30 million to help reduce the prices of daily necessities.

Compared to Pakatan Rakyat (PR)’s alternative budget which emphasised on the Borneo states considerably, Budget 2014 failed to address the concerns of many Sarawak leaders, especially on infrastructure development and education.

Sarawak BN politicians had asked for additional allocation to build more rural roads as 29% of rural areas in the state were still not accessible by land.

PR’s alternative budget has proposed to fast track the completion and upgrading of the Pan-Borneo Highway linking all towns and cities in Sabah and Sarawak as promised in PR’s manifesto.

PR also called for a complete liberalization of the cabotage policy to allow ships of any nationality to load and unload goods at any port in Sabah and Sarawak without having to first dock at Port Klang.

Combined with the lifting of the cabotage policy, PR sees this as a major boost to Sabah and Sarawak’s economic competitiveness.

In addition, PR emphasised on improving accessibility to utilities and education in the interior of East Malaysia.

Sarawak Workers Party president Larry Sng expressed disappointment with Budget 2014 as he was expecting more funding for Malaysia’s largest state.

Citing the abolishing of government subsidies, the implementation of the GST and the absence of funding for roads to Kapit, a rural township on the south bank of the Rajang river, Sng said Najib failed yet again in bridging the economic gap between East and West
Malaysia.

"1Malaysia was full of promise. In reality we are further behind and divided than before," he said in a text message to reporters.

Kapit recently came under the spotlight after an overcrowded boat capsized killing one in May, although there have been similar tragedies in the past.

The government has since allocated RM400 million to build a 33km road from Sibu to Kapit. It is expected to be completed within two
years.

Written by Ng Ai Fern and Sean Augustin