BY JAMES WONG & NURA V LORNA
THE negotiation of the formula on the Special Grant from the federal government is still ongoing, said Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
The Second Minister for Finance and New Economy Minister assured that the state government is committed to secure more development funds to support the state’s development agenda.
“As an interim payment, the Federal government has decided to raise the annual Special Grant to Sarawak from RM16 million to RM300 million pending the finalisation for the formula to be agreed upon between the federal and Sarawak governments.
“We are also leveraging on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 platform whereby the funding need of Sarawak is also being raised and deliberated, particularly for the development of basic infrastructure, utilities, telecommunication, border security, health, and education,” he said.
He was responding to Bawang Assan assemblyman Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh’s query in respect of federal grants to Sarawak.
Towards this end, Uggah reaffirmed that the state government would not waver in its efforts to ensure that Sarawak continues to progress and scale greater height.
“We must strive to do better and remain resilient and competitive given the challenging and uncertain economic situation,” he added.
