Dr Sim fires back at Dr Mahathir’s plea for Sarawak to help poorer states

KUCHING (Oct 29): The ‘bullying’ during Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration has left Sarawak with little choice but to make its own efforts to increase revenue to support its development, said Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian.

He noted that Sarawak’s efforts have been successful, with revenue growing from RM5.8 billion in 2018 to RM13.3 billion in 2023, with another increase expected this year, to be announced by Premier Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg next month.

“I guess ‘thanks’ for the bullying; otherwise, we would not have been declared high income by the World Bank last year.

“It’s our Sarawak money, and we went to court with Petronas when Dr Mahathir was Prime Minister. We won the court case!

“It’s time for Sarawak to catch up with our infrastructures, facilities, giving back to anak Sarawak, and look after ourselves first,” he said in a Facebook post.

Dr Sim’s response came after Dr Mahathir asked Sarawak, having now achieved high-income status, to help more backward Malaysian states to develop.

In an interview with a news portal, Dr Mahathir said: “Sarawak is already making a lot of money. Its budget is RM11 billion. That is very high, compared with, say, Kedah, whose budget is only RM700 million.”

He added that Malaysia is a federation whereby the richer states must share their wealth with the poorer ones.

Dr Sim, who is also Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) president, said Sarawak had been made to help Malaysia for so long that 70 per cent of its clinics and hospitals are in dilapidated condition.

He claimed that the federal government has been collecting more taxes from Sarawak than what was given back to the state.

“Interesting observation that in 1970s when Malaysia was poor, so many clinics and hospitals in Sarawak were built. But when Dr Mahathir was PM in 1980s, Malaysia was richer but ‘no money’ to build clinics and hospitals in Sarawak. Not only Sarawak was left behind, but after 50 years, they (the infrastructure and facilities) are ‘daif’ (dilapidated),” he added.

Dr Sim also mentioned another instance of ‘bullying’ towards Sarawak when the then-finance minister Lim Guan Eng declared in 2018 that Sarawak would go bankrupt.

On another note, Dr Sim expressed hope for an increase in the special grant from the federal government to Sarawak.

The federal government announced RM300 special grant for Sarawak in 2023 and RM600 million this year.

“Hopefully during these five years of interim arrangement, the Sarawak government and federal government can finally arrive to a mutually agreed formula on these yearly special grants,” he added.