NEXT year, the state will spend RM5.97bil for development and just RM2.07bil for operating costs.
Exactly 74% of the state budget will be for development.
Like so many budgets before, Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem said it was development-biased.
He specifically wanted to highlight that RM2.65bil would be set aside for rural infrastructure.
When tabling the state budget at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly on Monday morning, Adenan jibed the Federal Government for having “almost the opposite” development-to-operating ratio.
And because the national Budget contained so little for development, Adenan said allocations for Sarawak was “tidak cukup”, or not enough.
Page nine of his state budget speech was devoted to this point. Paragraphs 52 to 55 (it was a 70-minute speech) was on the subject matter.
Aside from the Pan Borneo Highway, the chief minister listed only three major projects the Federal Government would fund in Sarawak next year: RM142mil Samalaju Industrial Park, RM42mil for Mukah Airport and RM30mil for native land surveys.
(It should be noted here that all three projects are not totally new. They have been on-going for years now, and the funding is to continue works. Notably, no new hospital for Sarawak.)
Adenan then goes on to list three more national Budget allocations, but these were for both Sabah and Sarawak: RM70mil for a proposed hill paddy subsidy scheme, RM260mil for price uniformity and RM70mil for interest free longhouse loans.
“I would like to thank the Federal Government. However, taking into account the state’s vast area as well as the development disparity between Sarawak and peninsular Malaysia and between the state’s urban-rural areas, the 2016 allocation under the national Budget for Sarawak is not sufficient. Tidak cukup.”
At this point, members of the assembly were table-thumping for the first time that morning.
This led Adenan to jokingly ask members of the house why they were applauding the lack of funds.
“We are dropping a broad hint to the Federal Government,” Adenan suggested himself.
The Chief Minister, who is the state Finance Minister, elaborated about his state budget from pages 10 to 15, across multiple paragraphs, sub-paragraphs and bullet points.
He spoke about better roads, water supply and priority for technical education.
But before turning his attention to the private sector, Adenan returned to the subject of bigger federal funding.
He said: “Let me reiterate the critical importance that the Federal Government grants the state more funding in the 11th Malaysia Plan for much-needed infrastructure projects.
“With our close relation with the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government at the national level, I am sure the Federal Government would accede to our demand for more allocations.”
Make of that what you will.
Some will think Adenan is right to keep pressing the point. At least he is speaking up, they might say.
But others would scoff, wondering why he is sounding like a broken record.
Adenan is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
He wants things to change but the wider system might not be so accommodating to his views of how things should be.
Nonetheless, his popularity is still high. Adenan will be able to get away with passing the buck to the Federal Government when it comes to Sarawak’s lack of development for now.
However, at some point in the near future, people will ask why is Sarawak BN blaming the Federal BN.
The state government is trying to build a “healthy and resilient economy” with sufficient resources to “withstand uncertainties”, Adenan said in his concluding paragraph.
“The rakyat need to understand and appreciate the state’s policies and direction in facing new challenges, and to support the political leaders capable of resolving problems and delivering services.”
The end sounded more like a personal hope rather than a statement.
I already left wondering if I’ll hear something similar again next year.
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