PRESS RELEASE
IN KOTA KINABALU TODAY, 3 APRIL 1997

PBS: DISCLOSE REAL STATE OF FINANCIAL AFFAIRS

KOTA KINABALU, Thurs. - Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) today called on the Barisan National government to disclose the true financial position of the State in light of widespread claim by members of the public that the government is in serious financial problems.

Langkon assemblyman Dr Maximus Ongkili said the government had been avoiding the issue for some time but the public knows the real situation especially the civil servants.

Dr Ongkili was commenting on the denial yesterday by Deputy Chief Minister cum Finance Minister Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh that the State government was in deep financial trouble.

"It is a joke that the government has been unable to pay the bonus on time for reasons of thrift and financial discipline. The civil servants are in the best position to know the real story since they are also administrators of government finances.

"Clearly, the government has not been fair to the civil servants. If indeed thrift and financial discipline are the reasons for delaying the bonus payments, why is it that only civil servants are forced to carry the burden thereby adversely affecting their financial condition?", he questioned.

"What about the ridiculous amount the government spends on rental of vehicles from Angkatan Hebat which members of the public estimate to be about RM50 million annually compared to around RM10 million annually before the privatisation exercise?

"And what about the excessive overseas trips and travelling by ministers, agencies and boards of corporations which PBS has continously questioned during debates on every supplementary bills in the State assembly for the last three years? How come nothing is being done on these matters and instead payments of civil servants’ bonus are delayed on grounds of thrift and financial discipline?", Dr Ongkili asked.

The PBS deputy president renewed the party’s claim that the State financial position was in bad shape and urged the government to disclose the real facts.

"It is public knowledge that staff of many municipal and district councils are yet to receive payment of arrears for the 1996 salary adjustment from the government. And these include staff of the Kota Kinabalu Municipal Council which is supposed to be very well off compared to other councils.

"We are aware that there is some RM200 million worth of claims by contractors for work completed in 1996 yet to be paid by the State Treasury. Apparently the claims have been approved but payments cannot be made because there is insufficient fund.

"Many contractors have also complained of their submissions of claim for work done being unnecessary querried and delayed, again because there are not enough funds to go around", he said.

Dr Ongkili urged the State government to disclose publicly its present financial position with respect to latest revenue earnings, current level of expenditure, and amount of reserve in the consolidated fund.

"These figures are important in order to assess the financial position of the government. Projected and actual figures should also be given so that the public knows the shortfall in revenue and how much the government has overspent.

"We would also like to know how much revenue has been earned from the forestry sector and the size of th e shortfall because everyone knows that forestry revenue is at least 50% lower than originally projected. Further, the public wants to know how much revenue has been earned so far from the auction of prime town lands which the government claimed would generate over RM100 million a year.

"Finally, it is the interest of the public to know whether the State government has already began to use the consolidated fund in advance of the expected earnings of RM565 million from sale of SLDB which may only take place in July? If the government has indeed already used the fund, it is a fundamental breach of established budgeting practice and rules", he stressed.

Dr Ongkili urged the State government to be transparent on all these issues to restore confidence in the State financial system, adding that "most people do know what exactly is happening and is really useless to mislead the public by not giving the correct information".