MUCH has been said in the recent spat between the Sarawak state government and the Finance Ministry over the funding for repairs of dilapidated schools in Sarawak. The Finance Minister wants the state to pay in advance an amount of about RM350mil as assurance since Sarawak still owes the federal government over RM2bil. Both are just sabre-rattling while the poor students and teachers are left wondering when their school would be repaired.
These childish spats between the state and federal government should stop for the sake of the nation’s progress. Sarawak is already years behind in amenities and other developments compared to Peninsular Malaysia and yet the federal government is delaying the release of funds for urgent school repairs because of technicalities. Surely the federal government can withhold taxes to the state if Sarawak fails to honour its debt repayments.
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