By NOOR SYAHHIRA HADY & SARAH HAFIZAH CHANDRA
THE Sarawak-owned airline will not be operated solely on the basis of making profits.
Chief political secretary to the Premier Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman said that rather, as the government’s responsibility, the airline will provide adequate and fair connectivity to the people.
“The profits or benefits must not be calculated based on the company’s earnings but the multiplier effect brought to the local economy.
“If need be, subsidies must be allocated for this initiative. Subsidies provided for this are akin to the federal government providing subsidies to cover the toll cost in Semenanjung recently during the Raya celebration,” he said when debating on the motion of appreciation for the TYT address on the third day of the 19th State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting today.
On another matter, he refuted the reference to Sarawak as a rich state but with the most number of poor people.
He said there is a need for a professional third party to study the definition of poverty and Sarawak’s poverty data.
“This is very important because only with accurate data can we formulate and implement strategies to improve the standard of living of our people,” he said.
