KENINGAU: The people here gave the thumbs up to Budget 2015 which was tabled on Friday in Parliament by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak.
They described the budget as being more focused on the wellbeing of the people especially in the rural areas.
Liawan Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) chief, Datuk Jake Jikulin Nointin described Budget 2015 as the best and focused on the interests of the people.
“Arguably, the People’s Budget serves the interests and expectations of each group to be addressed and dealt with,” he told The Borneo Post here yesterday.
He said all the plans and strategies contained in the budget were directly linked to raising living standards and the progress of the people.
Comparing this year’s budget with next year’s, he said the latter touches less on business and commercial entities, there is no tax increase on goods such as cigarettes, alcohol and so on.
“I was really impressed with the efforts of the Government to launch the National Youth Transformation Programme and with this programme, I believe the youth in the country will be more advanced and comfortable in their lives.
“Programmes like Youth Housing Scheme, Urban Youth 1Malaysia Youth Program Agropreneur, Rakan Muda Program, Youth Leadership Academy and others are expected to be used by the youth in particular from the state to take advantage of all the available programmes,” said Jake, who is also the central PBS Youth chief.
He was also pleased with the government’s efforts to raise the living standards of the people of Sabah in the provision of basic needs such as roads, potable water and electricity.
He said it is his hope that the roads in the interior, especially Liawan area, where there are several main roads in need of repair and upgrade, should be given priority.
Jake was also overwhelmed by the efforts of the government to give back part of the revenue collections from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to the people through an increase in the provision of 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) in addition to other requirements to help the less fortunate.
“I hope this BR1M will be implemented with full sincerity of the government departments concerned to get right to the target and with an impact as expected.
“Actually, personally, I’m not convinced that giving BR1M is the best step to upgrade the life of the people, especially in Sabah. The money used right for BR1M payments may be given higher impact in improving people’s living standards, if used to build more people’s houses assistance Program (PBR), which has many needs, especially in the interior of Sabah or used to build or repair village roads and farms roads and thus can help the people market their agricultural produce with comfortable, “he said.
Regardless, he said, the 2015 Budget is very good and welcome. “What is important is the implementation.”
“It can also reduce operating costs of overlapping responsibilities which can be avoided, for example, the provision of rural development in this state should be directed to the Ministry of Rural Development instead of by officials from the Ministry of Regional and Rural and Development (KKLBW) having to commute to Sabah to implement government projects or programmes,” he said.
Meanwhile, Political Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Stanis Baundi said the RM4.5 billion allocation attributable to Sabah and Sarawak, is a huge sum and this is in line with the needs of the people of the states that are in dire need of capital injection and assistance from the government.
“To offset the economic effect due to a fall in rubber prices and the withdrawal of subsidies in oil prices by 20 sen, special assistance to hill paddy farmers is another government initiative to help the people in rural areas, and this shows the government never exclude rural communities in next year’s budget ,” he said.
He said infrastructure development had not been ignored by the government with the construction of a new health clinic in Tenom which is expected to be completed as scheduled.
Stanis said Budget 2015 was an improvement from previous budgets so as to continue to give special attention to the state in terms of security, such as the construction of additional military camps in Beluran and Lahad Datu, and increased BRIM all geared towards enhancing the income of the people.
“The 2015 budget is indeed the government’s steps to continue to give the people a better life, security, progress and prosperity in accordance with the government’s target of making Malaysia a developed nation by 2020 without compromising the needs of the people of various races and religions in the country,” he said.
He also recommended that any governmental assistance and provision especially for the people of Sabah should reach the target group.