KOTA KINABALU: An opposition
leader has taken the State Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Panglima
Salleh Said Keruak to task, for failing discharge his duty professionally and
to keep the August House in order.
In expressing his
disappointment over the conduct of the State Assembly sitting, Bingkor
Assemblyman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan (photo) even described the august House
as a cowshed.
“This place is like a
kandang sapi (cowshed), there is no discipline, no control, no freedom of
speech, and they (Barisan Nasional elected representatives) ganged up together
from the backbenchers, to the ministers, right up to the Speakers.
“And here I also find that
the Speaker is even involved in the argument, in making comments and debate,
when he is supposed to control the conduct of the session,” he lamented.
He also expressed regret
over the poor conduct of the BN policymakers, claiming that this was as a
result of their long indoctrination by their political masters.
“They (backbenchers and
ministers) are taking advantage of the Speaker (who is Datuk Seri Panglima
Salleh Tun Said Keruak, the Usukan Assemblyman).
“They kept interrupting,
raising the Point of Order and asked for ‘penjelasan’ (explaination), but
instead of asking me, they go around talking about it. And the Speaker does not
adhere when I pointed out it was not right.
“And I am surprised that
there are things I can say outside but I cannot say inside the House, which is
supposed to be the other way around. Words like ‘autonomy’ and ‘negara’
(country), that is why I am very disappointed … we are supposed to progress
from those colonial and old days to better days,” he said.
Jeffrey pointed out that all
assemblymen must work together for the country and the people.
“We are one system, we are
in the same system, the government have their role, so does the opposition. So
why not let us do our part and express our part and let them (ministers)
listen, and let the people listen and if it is good.
“I was not even attacking
the government, just merely giving suggestions how to improve the finance of
the government, how to claim our rights and revenue from the collection of the
federal government,” said Jeffrey.
He said the state government
may claim its rights under the Schedule 10 of the Constitution to recover 40
per cent of the revenue that is elected by the federal government and back to
the state.
“This is the Constitution.
Imagine 40 per cent of RM40 billion, where this year they are projecting to
collect RM40 billion in taxes, which is the nett revenue minus capitation and
road grants.
“Let’s just say the minimum
after deducting the two grants that may not even come up to RM5 billion, we
will have RM35 billion.
“So 40 per cent from that is
RM14 billion, which is additional fund for Sabah plus the RM4 billion they
collect from the state government. We can have about RM18 billion in state
revenue and it is much better than the RM4 billion we are getting now.
“And the same thing goes
with the oil taken from the state, which is taken improperly. I suggested that
we request for a review because it is within our rights, we are not asking
something that does not belong to us, we can have that and have the right to
impose royalty on our own, but royalty was denied to us,” he said.
“Imagine if we collect 10
per cent royalty which belongs to the state as the one they (federal
government) paid to us is not oil royalty, because we have been asked to reject
our own rights to collect royalty under the Section 4 of the Oil Agreement.
“But just imagine if we
collect even 10 per cent, and I am not even saying 20 per cent, on our own of
the coming production of 500,000 barrels per-day, by 2015 it is three times the
amount of what is being produced today in Sabah, which is 170,000 barrels
per-day, to which last year, it made RM18.8 billion.
“By 2015, this amount of
value will be more than RM50 billion. So with 10 per cent, we can get RM5
billion, and plus the 5 per cent they are giving, that will be RM2.5 billion,
and altogether sums up to RM7.5 billion.
“Add up to the taxes which
is RM18 billion, what we have is RM25 to 26 billion in revenue, that would be
much better for the state so we can carry out much better development and
resolve a lot of problems. We do not even have to beg the federal government to
give the money,” he said. (BI)
The Barisan Nasional (BN) government will ensure continuity of the development agenda and fulfilment of its ‘Aku Janji’ pledges made in the 13th general election.
ReplyDeleteSabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, who is also state Finance Minister, said as a party that had been given the trust and mandate by the people, BN was committed to carrying out its responsibilities within the next five years.
“In this regard, I urge all honourable assemblymen, in particular the opposition, to see the good in our earnestness to implement the various development policies aimed at improving the people’s quality of life and spurring the state economy towards sustainable prosperity and wellbeing.”
He said this in his winding-up speech for the ministry at the Sabah state assembly sitting, here, today.
Speaking to reporters later, Musa who is state BN chairman, was optimistic that the government would be able to implement all the policies, projects and initiatives it had planned.
”What is important is that we go to the ground and serve the best we can in the interest of the people in our respective constituencies,” he said.
On the first session of the state assembly which ended today, he noted that the opposition members were more concerned with confusing the house by twisting the facts and exploiting issues for their narrow political interest.
”They don’t seem to understand or pretended not to know about the government’s endeavour and achievements in improving the people’s life and developing the state, including areas won by the opposition,” he said.