Sabah Colonised: October 2015

29 billion RM out of 267 billion RM for the 2016 Malaysian budget.\
That is only 11% for both Sabah and Sarawak which has a population of 20% of Malaysia and around 50% of the total area.

This is the standard practise of distirbuting money in Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak together, always given around 10%, even for welfare fund. This is despite Sabah, alone, has 40% of the poor people in Malaysia. No wonder, with such discriminatory budgeting, Sabah will become even poorer.

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/budget-2016-goes-down-well-with-sabah-sarawak

October 23, 2015. — Picture by Yusof Mat IsaKUCHING, Oct 23 — Consumer Voice Association of Sarawak (Covas) vice president Philip Ng said Covas was relieved by the measures taken in Budget 2016 to address the rising cost of living.

Citing an example, he said the 1Harga 1Sarawak and 1Harga 1Sabah iniative would ensure uniformity of prices for selected goods throughout the country besides the exemption on the Goods and Tax for several types of medicine.

He also lauded the minimum wage hike from RM900 to RM1,000 a month for Peninsular Malaysia and from RM800 to RM920 for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan from July next year.

In Kota Kinabalu, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Faculty of Economics, Business and Accounting senior lecturer Dr Sarmah Aranas said the RM260 million allocation to implement the 1Harga 1Sabah and 1Harga 1Sarawak programme would do justice to consumers in the two states as they would get to enjoy fair prices.

“It could be the difference in prices is due to transportation costs. So the allocation will act as an incentive to the companies involved to streamline prices,” she during a “live” cross-over from the RTM studio here.

Describing the 2016 Budget as an excellent budget as far as Sabah and Sarawak were concerned, activist Kanul Gindol said the RM29.2 billion allocated for the two states would help spread more development projects.

“It would spur development, businesses and wealth-creating activities, more so if local contractors are engaged in all the development projects in Sabah and Sarawak, something the two states’ leadership have been fighting for for years,” he said In Sibu, Engkilili assemblyman Johnical Rayong Ngipa said the RM70 million allocation to provide interest-free loans to build longhouses for the Dayak community would go a long in helping members of the community.

Under the scheme, a maximum of RM50,000 will be made avalaible per longhouse.

Meanwhile, Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president Senator Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian said he was glad to see the continued refinement of the GST with more GST zero rating for medicine and food items introduced, apart from various improvements in salaries and pensions of civil servants specifically to address the issue of rising cost of living.

Describing the 2016 Budget as “a challenging budget” in the context of slump in oil prices internationally, he said Sarawak received many advantages in the budget such as interest-free loans for the longhouses construction, commitment to the toll-free Pan Borneo highway and the 1Harga 1Sarawak dan 1Harga 1Sabah programme.

He also lauded the move to exempt Goods and Service Tax (GST) for flight tickets involving Rural Air Services (RAS). — Bernama

KUCHING, Oct 23 — Consumer Voice Association of Sarawak (Covas) vice president Philip Ng said Covas was relieved by the measures taken in Budget 2016 to address the rising cost of living.
Citing an example, he said the 1Harga 1Sarawak and 1Harga 1Sabah iniative would ensure uniformity of prices for selected goods throughout the country besides the exemption on the Goods and Tax for several types of medicine.
He also lauded the minimum wage hike from RM900 to RM1,000 a month for Peninsular Malaysia and from RM800 to RM920 for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan from July next year.
In Kota Kinabalu, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Faculty of Economics, Business and Accounting senior lecturer Dr Sarmah Aranas said the RM260 million allocation to implement the 1Harga 1Sabah and 1Harga 1Sarawak programme would do justice to consumers in the two states as they would get to enjoy fair prices.
“It could be the difference in prices is due to transportation costs. So the allocation will act as an incentive to the companies involved to streamline prices,” she during a “live” cross-over from the RTM studio here.
Describing the 2016 Budget as an excellent budget as far as Sabah and Sarawak were concerned, activist Kanul Gindol said the RM29.2 billion allocated for the two states would help spread more development projects.
“It would spur development, businesses and wealth-creating activities, more so if local contractors are engaged in all the development projects in Sabah and Sarawak, something the two states’ leadership have been fighting for for years,” he said In Sibu, Engkilili assemblyman Johnical Rayong Ngipa said the RM70 million allocation to provide interest-free loans to build longhouses for the Dayak community would go a long in helping members of the community.
Under the scheme, a maximum of RM50,000 will be made avalaible per longhouse.
Meanwhile, Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president Senator Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian said he was glad to see the continued refinement of the GST with more GST zero rating for medicine and food items introduced, apart from various improvements in salaries and pensions of civil servants specifically to address the issue of rising cost of living.
Describing the 2016 Budget as “a challenging budget” in the context of slump in oil prices internationally, he said Sarawak received many advantages in the budget such as interest-free loans for the longhouses construction, commitment to the toll-free Pan Borneo highway and the 1Harga 1Sarawak dan 1Harga 1Sabah programme.
He also lauded the move to exempt Goods and Service Tax (GST) for flight tickets involving Rural Air Services (RAS). — Bernama
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