SIBU: Sibu Member of Parliament, Oscar Ling Chai Yew, has urged the Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) to reconsider its proposal to abolish free lunchtime parking.
He warned that the move could inflict disproportionate economic harm on businesses and consumers while generating only marginal additional revenue for the council.
Ling argued that the economic consequences of discouraging lunchtime visits to Sibu’s commercial centre would likely outweigh the financial benefits expected from the additional parking charges.
According to him, SMC currently collects just over RM2 million annually from parking fees.
Even if the lunchtime exemption is abolished, he estimated that the council would gain only several hundred thousand ringgit in additional yearly revenue – which according to him is insignificant compared to the potential loss of economic activity during one of the busiest trading periods of the day.
“The broader economic losses arising from reduced consumer spending and weaker business activity could easily exceed the additional parking income collected by the council,” he said in a statement today.
Ling noted that office workers would bear the most immediate impact of the proposed policy.
With motorists required to pay parking fees throughout the 1.5-hour lunch break, employees working in the town centre would incur an additional RM1.26 in parking charges each working day.
While the daily amount may appear modest, Ling said the cumulative cost over months and years would become a financial burden, reducing consumers’ disposable income at a time when households are already facing economic pressures.
He stressed that parking fees should primarily function as a traffic management tool rather than a significant source of municipal revenue.
“The purpose of parking charges is to improve parking turnover, regulate traffic flow and encourage commercial activity – not to maximise income for local authorities,” he said.
While acknowledging that SMC is operating under genuine financial constraints, Ling said the council’s fiscal challenges stem largely from structural weaknesses in Sarawak’s local government financing system rather than insufficient parking revenue.
Ling claimed that, based on available information, approximately 10 of Sarawak’s 25 local councils are currently operating under budget deficits, highlighting systemic weaknesses in the existing financing model.
To address the issue, Ling proposed that the Sarawak Government introduce a permanent institutionalised matching grant mechanism tied to assessment rate collections.
Under such a model, if SMC collects RM30 million annually through assessment rates, the state government would contribute an equivalent RM30 million development grant directly to the council each year.
Alternatively, he suggested institutionalised annual allocations based on the population size of each local authority.
Ling said such a funding framework would provide local councils with predictable and sustainable financial resources to improve infrastructure, maintain roads and deliver better municipal services.
