Sapp president Yong Teck Lee has said his party finds it most amusing that Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman is talking about asking for more funds only after the tabling of the RM60 billion second economic stimulus package in Parliament.
Sapp is an ex-component party of the Barisan Nasional which rules the state.
“Each time a federal budget has been tabled, the state BN leaders automatically and loyally heaped praises on the finance minister of the day without actually seeing whether the budget provisions are fair to Sabah and the people,” Yong said in a statement today.
The party is monitoring the progress of the second stimulus package to make sure that Sabah is not cheated, the former chief minister said.
For instance, out of the RM60 billion, only RM1.2 billion is allocated for infrastructure in Sabah and Sarawak, Yong said, adding that “if Sabah and Sarawak share equally, then Sabah gets only RM600 million in the next two years.”
This amount represents only one percent of the RM60 billion additional allocation, which the Sapp leader said is an insult to the people of Sabah.
“It is yet to be seen how the billions will benefit Sabah and the people.”
Scrap the discrimination immediately
For instance, the RM5000 discount given to car owners who exchange their old cars for Proton and Perodua under the auto-scrapping scheme is applicable only in Peninsula Malaysia,” according to Yong.
“Sabah and Sarawak are excluded from this scheme. We demand that this discrimination against Proton and Perodua car buyers in the Borneo states be scrapped immediately,” Yong added.
He said this form of discrimination is an added insult to injury because Proton and Perodua cars sold in Sabah are already more expensive by RM1900 to RM2,200 per unit than those sold in Peninsular Malaysia.
He asked: “Why should Proton owners in Sabah continue to subsidise Proton owners in Peninsular Malaysia?”
Yong said the RM60 billion allocation should also have been used to stimulate the Sabah economy by reducing the high freight charges caused by the artificial cabotage policy imposed by the federal government to protect shipping companies.
The cabotage policy, he added, has caused prices of imported goods to be much higher than necessary.
“Since the federal government wants to protect ship owners at the expense of overall economy, then the federal government should be fair and subsidise freight charges to Sabah,” the Sapp leader said.
Subsidise transportation too
If the federal government can subsidise KL road users to the tune of RM287 million at the North-South Expressway, Sprint Highway, Ampang Elevated Highway, Sungei Besi Highway and New Pantai Expressway, why can’t the government practice fairness in subsidising Sabah’s higher costs of living caused by the cabotage policy?
Why subsidise KL highway companies and not shipping companies? Yong also wanted to know.
In the interior areas, where the people are the poorest, food and other necessities cost much more due to transportation, he said, adding that the rural economy needs stimulation by way of subsidies in transportation.
He said his party had spoken against the cooking oil subsidy that mostly Sabah oil palm producers have had to subsidise other Malaysian consumers to the tune of RM700 million from 2007 to 2008.
“Both Sabah and Sarawak together have also been subsidising the Bernas rice monopoly at RM400 million per annum for more than 10 years.”
This was stopped only in June last year after Sapp protested in public.
“If the federal government had used the funds to promote local padi planting, then we would have achieved self-sufficiency in padi production. Instead, we are subsidising an Umno-controlled Bernas monopoly to import rice,” the former chief minister said.
Yong said consumers in Sabah have been bearing the higher costs of products such MAS air fares, newsprint, electricity tariffs and all types of imported goods.
Such man-made policies have dragged down Sabah’s economic performance for decades to the extent that Sabah is now more and more dependant on federal charity.
Rural people and some east coast towns also cannot receive RTM1, RTM2, TV3 and NTV7.
Many districts need funds
Hence, the few people who can afford, have to use their meagre income to pay for media and news via Astro, while the poor are denied their right to information, he said. He called on the government to build television transmission towers in these rural areas without delay.
“Sapp is also disappointed that none of the RM60 billion is meant for a general hospital in Kota Kinabalu city or an elevated railway to solve the problems caused by the Petagas railway line that has cut off thousands of people from the main Petagas road.”
Yong said many districts in Sabah are crying out for desperately needed funds such as the Sandakan electric power generation plant, the Tawau port and barter trade centre.
The people of Lahad Datu are not impressed by the new KL low-cost airport costing RM2 billion and the 50 percent rebate on airport landing charges amounting to more than RM100 million.
“This is because in the 9th Malaysia Plan, the Lahad Datu Airport project was shelved. The Kota Kinabalu/Lahad Datu MAS fare is one of the highest per mile in the world.”
Yong said the party considers the second stimulus package as being unfair to Sabah and does not help to stimulate the Sabah economy.
Malaysiakini
14/03/09
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