PBK chief: Sarawak ministers, reps should take pay cut as part of national austerity drive

KUCHING (Dec 28): All Sarawak  governments should institute a cut in salary and allowance of their respective Cabinet members and assemblymen next year to help reduce the country’s debts, said Voon Lee Shan.

The Parti Bumi Kenyalang (PBK) president said at the same time, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should move a motion in parliament to seek all MPs to agree to a salary cut until the economy recovers.

“The Prime Minister in January this year and on several occasions stated that the national debt including liabilities has reached RM1.5 trillion.

“Efforts taken so far to reduce the national debt have not shown significant results. The government needs to go on an austerity drive to focus on paying down the national debt,” he said in a statement yesterday.

At the same time, Voon opined that salary revisions for civil servants, especially the top officers, should not be prioritised so long as the national debt remains at the current level.

“At the moment, the salaries of many categories of government officers are very high and should be enough for their families.

“Many of them have too many privileges such as free (use of) cars and handphone allowances. These should be cut,” he said.