MP cites differences in allocations

THERE are glaring differences in the allocations for Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak under the federal Budget, says Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan.

The Keningau MP cited flood mitigation allocations as examples of these disparities, as Peninsular Malaysia will receive RM7.9bil for 69 projects while Sabah will receive RM806mil for 17 projects and Sarawak will get RM408mil for 12 projects under the 12th Malaysia Plan. Under Budget 2022, he said there were also inequitable distribution of allocations.

“For development expenditure, Peninsular Malaysia is getting RM77.6bil, RM5.2bil for Sabah and RM4.6bil for Sarawak,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

He added the state economic development corporations were allocated RM82.bil in Peninsular Malaysia, with RM4.6bil allocated for Sabah and RM1.7bil for Sarawak. He suggested that the Federal Government provide an annual RM2bil allocation over the next five years for Sabah to represent the state’s net annual revenue.

Kitingan said the government should adopt a more equitable distribution of the Budget for Sabah and Sarawak to avoid the growing calls for the states to withdraw from the Federation of Malaysia.