SIBU: Sibu MP Oscar Ling Chai Yew has urged the Sarawak government to institutionalise the allocation of funds to local councils in Sarawak based on population size to address the funding shortage faced by many councils.
He pointed out that Sarawak has 25 local councils, and in 2022, 10 of them were running at a deficit.
“With societal progress, public expectations and demands for local council services have been rising, especially for the maintenance and improvement of basic infrastructure.
“Currently, only the Kuching South City Council and Kuching North City Hall have revenues exceeding RM100 million, followed by Miri City Council with over RM90 million and Sibu Municipal Council with over RM70 million.
“Meanwhile, there are 12 local councils with revenues below RM10 million. The annual revenue of the Sibu Rural District Council is only over RM12 million, while the revenue of the Sarikei District Council is around RM13 million,” he stated on Wednesday (Nov 6).
Ling believed that local councils play a crucial role in local planning and development, and limited revenue directly affects their work and services.
He noted that the Sarawak government’s annual allocations to local councils are limited and inconsistent, which is detrimental to their future planning.
He suggested that the Sarawak government allocate fixed funding to local councils based on the population size of the areas under their jurisdiction.
This, he pointed out, would ensure that while the state government is increasing its revenue, the resources of Sarawak are shared with local councils, directly benefiting the people.
Currently, he noted that many large economic projects announced by the Sarawak government appear to show that the state government is actively venturing into the business sector to make profits.
He stated that even with the increase in state revenue, there has been no significant improvement in the revenue of local councils, which the state government must also address and pay attention to.
He expressed his hope to see development in Sarawak not only as an expansion of the state government’s power but also with local governments or councils receiving their share.
“I would like to propose that the decentralisation of power should not be limited to federal and state levels but should also include state and local councils,” Ling added.
