DARO: The Sarawak Government will continue strengthening its revenue sources to ensure the income generated can be channelled back to the people through various development initiatives and assistance programmes.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said a strong financial position was crucial in enabling the state government to implement more projects and provide greater benefits to the people.
He said Sarawak’s improved revenue performance over the years had allowed the government to expand its development capacity and introduce various initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life of the people.
“The government is always looking for additional sources of revenue for Sarawak and its people. When I became Chief Minister, our revenue was only around RM6 billion.
“Two years ago, our revenue had exceeded RM14 billion and it may increase further by the end of this year,” he said at the Leaders’ Meet-the-People Programme for Daro State Constituency (N43) here today.
Abang Johari said the state’s financial strength had enabled the government to support housing initiatives by bearing part of the infrastructure costs to make home ownership more affordable for the people.
“For example, housing projects such as Darul Hana in Kuching and Kemuyang in Sibu involve houses worth around RM350,000 but the government bears the cost of providing infrastructure amounting to about RM150,000, including basic facilities such as roads, electricity and water supply,” he added.
“We also provide RM10,000 deposit assistance. The people only need to purchase the house because part of the cost for facilities and infrastructure is borne by the government.
“All these are facilities we provide to the people so that they can own better homes.”
He said the development approach adopted by Sarawak had also attracted interest from parties outside the state, including those from Peninsular Malaysia, who came to learn from the state’s experience.
“They came to see how we developed Darul Hana and Kemuyang. They wanted to learn from us and we shared our experience,” he added.
“This shows that when the state’s financial position is strong, we have the capacity to implement development projects and return the benefits to the people.”
Earlier, Abang Johari said Sarawakians must broaden their outlook and gain exposure to global developments to acquire new knowledge and experiences that could contribute towards the state’s progress.
He said initiatives such as AirBorneo’s expansion would provide more opportunities for Sarawakians to explore the outside world and learn from other countries’ development approaches.
“AirBorneo will fly to Jakarta, the ASEAN region and also East Asia. So, we too can travel to their countries,” he shared.
“With these opportunities, Sarawakians must open their minds and see the world as it is. From there, we can learn how to develop our own state.”
