Sabah and Sarawak should be allocated 50% of development expenditure in 2016 Budget

KOTA KINABALU - “PM Najib should allocate 50% of the development expenditure in Budget 2016 for Sabah and Sarawak.  There will be no excuses for overlooking development for Sabah and Sarawak in 2016 compared to Budget 2015 where all RM50.5 billion was spent for Malaya’s development and none for Sabah and Sarawak” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief in presenting his proposals in response to Najib’s call for suggestions for Budget 2016.

At the national level, to help support the ailing and sliding ringgit, Budget 2016 should contain tax incentives for all exporters that earn US dollars or foreign currencies with additional incentives for increases in values of the foreign exchange earnings compared to 2015.

Budget 2016 will seriously test the Prime Minister’s sincerity towards his many promises to quicken and increase development for Sabah and Sarawak as well as his 11th Malaysia Plan’s proposal to make Kuching and Kota Kinabalu as development hubs.  It may also jeopardize the support from Sabah and Sarawak which are his “fixed deposit” States and whose support are keeping him as Prime Minister.

Any allocation for development of less than 50% for the Borneo States will be seen as a failure of PM Najib and making a mockery of his promises.

RM32 billion was reserved for 2 additional LRT lines in Greater Klang Valley in Budget 2015 which were additions to the RM36 billion on-going LRT main lines.

For 2016, the PM cum Finance Minister should allocate RM2.5 billion for Phase I of Kota Kinabalu Monorail System with another RM1 billion for repairs of more than 600 road slopes which have been outstanding since 2009, RM2 billion for road repairs and another RM700 million for upgrading of 62 bridges. 

The road slope repairs and road repairs are not only urgent but more than justified as the Sabah government incurred losses estimated at more than RM2.55 billion due to landslides while bad road conditions have caused many accidents and road deaths.

Another RM900 million should be allocated for the much needed 6 overhead interchanges in Kota Kinabalu that will help reduce traffic congestion and make Kota Kinabalu a more liveable city and more traffic friendly for tourists.

Najib should also provide an appropriate budget for the Sabah government to take over control of the education sector which will also be part of the handover of autonomy in education to Sabah as was promised to Sarawak.  The allocation should include the RM1.0 billion for repairs of some 600 dilapidated schools that were promised by then DPM cum Education Minister when visiting Sarawak in February 2014.

Included in the education budget allocation should be provisions to upgrade technical and vocational institutes such as the Timbang Menggaris Agriculture Institute to university status and budgets for handover of other federal technical and vocational institutions such as MRSM, Vocational Schools, Sandakan Polytechnic, Institut Latihan Perindustrian (ILP) and the like.

In addition to better administration and efficiency in education administration, the closure of the federal education department will mean costs savings for the federal government which could be        re-deployed for better use in Malaya.

Najib should also start implementation of the handover of autonomy of some initial federal departments to the Sabah government with allocations of appropriate budgets.  For instance, the Road Transport Department, Agriculture Department, Arts and Culture Department, Fisheries Department and similar departments and agencies could be handed over to Sabah.   It is envisaged that there will be substantial savings in the federal budget as lesser amounts would need to be allocated for Sabah especially where Sabah has similar departments and agencies such as the Sabah Agriculture Department, Culture Board and Jabatan Laut.

For the welfare and well-being of Sabahans, Sabah should be exempted from GST for 2016.  Based on the RM1.2 billion estimated collections for the 9 months in 2015 from April 1, it will only cost the federal government only RM1.5 billion for 2016 hich is small change given the tens of billions collected from Sabah including oil revenues, federal taxes and other collections.  But for the 3.2 million Sabahans, it will mean a savings of RM468.75 per person which translates to RM39.06 or almost 5% monthly for those with the minimum monthly wage of RM800.

Last but not least, an allocation of RM2 billion should be set aside to be returned to Sabah as part of the 40% net revenue derived from Sabah which is legally payable under the 10th Schedule of the Federal Constitution.

If these minimal allocations in Budget 2016 cannot be reserved for Sabah, then Sabahans including Sabah Umno and BN leaders and their supporters should know what to do when the time comes for PRU-14.