KUCHING: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng has been asked to stop blaming Barisan Nasional’s legacy for its many unfulfilled promises to Sarawak.
Movement for Change Sarawak (MoCS) chairman Francis Paul Siah said Sarawakians have heard that excuse all too often that it has become intolerable.
“Lim must stop blaming BN for PH’s failure,” Francis said to the New Sarawak Tribune when asked for his comments on Lim’s statement that legacy issues from the previous government are preventing the implementation of promises under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) manifesto, especially the oil royalty to Sabah and Sarawak.
“Was the PH manifesto going into GE14 created by the previous BN government? Surely, PH must be aware of BN’s huge debt, even then. That being so, why make empty promises to the people including to Sabahans and Sarawakians?”
On the issue of dilapidated schools, Francis said: “Again, Lim came up with the same excuse, only this time with an added twist — that Sarawak has to repay its loan to the federal government first.
“We wonder whether Putrajaya is concerned at all for the thousands of students in rural Sarawak who have to suffer in squalor conditions just to ensure they receive an education,” he questioned.
“Education is Putrajaya’s responsibility that it must fulfilled,” insisted Francis, adding Sarawak should seriously consider education autonomy.
“On the oil royalty for Sabah and Sarawak, Francis said Lim is telling Sabahans and Sarawakians that Putrajaya needs the revenue from oil and gas from their territories to finance other priorities.
“MoCS wishes to remind Putrajaya that Sarawakians are no longer that naïve as their forefathers who inked MA63 and brought Sarawak into Malaysia.
“Sarawakians are longing for the day to dawn when they could have 100 per cent of everything that their homeland is blessed with, without having to share with a foreign peninsula across the South China Sea.”
