KUCHING: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has appealed to the government to further improve the well-being of the people and bridge the gap between Malaya and East Malaysia.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the appeal was part of the tabling of the 2020 State Budget during the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting.
“I think if you listen carefully to the tabling of the budget for this year, those are the emphasis. Number one is to reduce the development gap between urban and rural areas; number two, to reduce the regional gap between West Malaysia and Sarawak; and number three, to eradicate the remnant of poverty,” he said to reporters during a State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) Covid-19 press conference, yesterday.
He explained that this was the reason why Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg had approved a significant amount in the budget to provide electricity, water, and roads to those in areas that did not have them.
Uggah said the same treatment was also given to the economy via the establishment of various development agencies to cover all regions of Sarawak.
“These strategies are all being implemented to ensure that Sarawak will continue to develop. Those are our priorities. What the Yang di-Pertuan Agong appealed for is already in our agenda,” he assured.
He recalled that recently the chief minister also announced the state’s post Covid-19 economic plan in view of the adverse impacts of the pandemic.
To him this was a clever move to improve the well-being, welfare, and income of the people.
“The state’s economy can recover by capitalising on and leveraging knowledge gained during the pandemic period,” he said.
