Tony Pua, the DAP’s National Publicity Secretary said that the two East Malaysian states would stand to be the biggest losers, as the majority of the projects were allocated to Peninsular Malaysia.
“The value of all the projects cited which are specifically located in West Malaysia amounted to a massive RM109.74 billion and this will include some of the headline projects such as the RM40 billion MRT system for the Klang Valley, the RM26 billion KL International Financial District (KLIFD), an estimated RM10 billion worth of new highways, a RM10 billion mixed property development in Sungai Buloh by EPF as well as the RM5 billion controversial 100-storey Warisan Merdeka,” Pua told reporters today.
In contrast to this, Pua said that projects which were meant specifically for Sabah and Sarawak amounted to a “meagre” RM9.55 billion or 8 per cent of the total value of projects cited in the latest budget.
“Over the past six years, the Federal Government has been heavily dependent on the income contributed from the oil and gas sector...which have formed an average of 40 per cent or more than RM60 billion annually of the Federal Government’s total income over the past few years,” said the Petaling Jaya Utara MP.
According to Pua, despite Sabah and Sarawak’s contributions to the country’s total income, the two states remained the poorest.
The 2007 9th Malaysia Plan Mid-Term Review stated that 2.3 per cent of Malaysians in the the Peninsular were poverty-stricken as opposed to 4.3 per cent in Sarawak and 16 percent in Sabah.
Besides that, Pua said that a 2009 report from the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development stated that while 41 per cent of both the East Malaysian states were without rural water coverage, the figure for Peninsular Malaysia was only at 10 per cent.
“It is hence completely not surprising that the people of Sabah and Sarawak believe that they have been royally screwed and we have a Commonwealth Games gold medalist who chose to don Sabah colours and not that of Malaysia,” Pua added.
Among the projects promised under Budget 2011 which has received huge flak from the opposition is the 100-storey Warisan Merdeka “supertall” skyscraper, sited adjacent to Stadium Merdeka and Stadium Negara.
The skyscraper is expected to cost RM5 billion over the next five years to build. When completed, it will be the tallest building in Malaysia, surpassing even the Petronas Towers.
