KOTA KINABALU: The multibillion-ringgit allocations for Sabah and Sarawak in Budget 2023 may look good on paper, but actual results boil down to effective implementation, says an analyst.
Sabah Universiti Teknologi Mara’s Dr Firdausi Suffian said the RM6.5bil and RM5.6bil to be channelled to Sabah and Sarawak, respectively, reflected both states’ contribution to the country as economic powerhouses in terms of resources.
The political economy senior lecturer said these allocations were on top of the RM260mil and RM300mil special grants given to Sabah and Sarawak, respectively, by Putrajaya in January.
He added that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had also given substantial attention to Sabah on issues such as healthcare, the repair of dilapidated schools, infrastructure development, decentralisation of power, and a RM20bil allocation for the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway project.
“And the Prime Minister made it clear that the construction of the (Pan Borneo Highway) project must be expedited.
“Anwar also mentioned some infrastructure issues can be handled by the district level without going through the thick bureaucratic processes.
“But as much as this sound like good news, the primary concern is always implementation.
“In the previous federal budget, Sabah was given some RM5bil under the development allocation but only 45% was utilised by the third quarter of 2022,” Firdausi said.
He added that the state’s public services also need to be strengthened with so many projects coming to Sabah.
Anwar, in tabling the Budget on Friday, said the multibillion-ringgit allocations are to spur development in the two Borneo states.
This included RM2.5bil for the execution of public infrastructure development projects in Sabah and Sarawak involving road projects, street lights, as well as water and electricity supply.
Anwar, also the Finance Minister, said the construction of the Sabah Pan Borneo Highway and Sarawak-Sabah Link Road will be expedited.
This involved an overall cost of RM20bil for roads ranging over 1,000km.
He added that there will be an allocation of RM50mil for the Sabah and Sarawak governments to expedite federal projects in both states.
Firdausi said the Prime Minister somewhat surprised analysts in a pleasant way after tabling the biggest budget ever in the nation’s history, including allocating the largest ever development budget for Sabah and Sarawak to date.
“This (allocation to Sabah and Sarawak) is the obvious ‘wow’ factor,” he said, adding that the RM6.5bil given to Sabah almost matched the state’s RM6.6bil revenue attained last year.
He said he was, however, disappointed that the premier did not touch on ways to address the unemployment issues in Sabah and Sarawak.
“Sabah has the highest unemployment rate, meaning more investment is needed.
“Another matter missing is how the Federal Government intends to attract businesses to embark on ventures in the state,” he said.