PBS : Triple allocation for Eight Malaysia Plan

PRESS RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE
Kota Kinabalu, 6 April 2001

PBS : Triple allocation for Eight Malaysia Plan

Kota Kinabalu, Fri. - Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) has urged the Federal government to triple the amount of development fund received by Sabah for the Seventh Malaysia Plan to finance development programmes under the Eighth Malaysia Plan.

Debating the Third Outline Perspective Plan (OPP3) in parliament last night, PBS deputy president Dr Maximus Ongkili observed that Sabah was rated last in terms of development achievements for the OPP2 based on the Composite Development Index derived by the Economic Planning Unit.

"It is disheartening that out of the twelve component indices of the Composite Development Index used in the OPP3, Sabah ranked last in 10 of the indices relative to all other states in the federation. "This is a shocking performance for Sabah which has been under the Barisan Nasional administration for the last seven years. What has happened to the grand development promises such as zero poverty rate, zero illiteracy rate and a house for every Sabahan by the year 2000 contained in the BN manifesto of 1994?" he asked.

Ongkili contended that Sabah was worst off in terms of development in the last five years relative to other states and it was only proper that Sabah's development allocation under the Eighth Malaysia Plan be increased three times from the RM5 billion received during the Seventh Malaysia Plan.

The Bandau member of parliament also called for the setting up of a national action council on poverty eradication to co-ordinate agencies involved in poverty programmes, which he claimed were "too many and all doing overlapping tasks and functions."

"There are just too many ministries and agencies involved in poverty eradication all with different policy focus with little coordination among them. There is severe overlapping in terms of function resulting in enormous financial wastage," he claimed.

Ongkili also urged the ministry of rural development to ensure that assistance under the hardcore poverty programme (PPRT) was not politicised by implementors at the ground level but instead given to all poor households irrespective of race, beliefs and location.

There should be complete transparency in selecting recipients of poverty assistance to ensure that deserving households are truly assisted, he said.