Call for State Assembly sitting to revise budget
Published on: Thursday, January 22, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: DAP Sabah urged the State Government to immediately convene a special State Assembly sitting to revise the State 2015 Budget.Its Vice Chief Chan Foong Hin said the State Government should emulate Putrajaya to revise the 2015 Budget. "However, Sabah should do it in a better way, which is convening a special State Assembly sitting," he said here Wednesday.
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The Sabah 2015 Budget was tabled in the last State Assembly sitting in November 2014, which saw the first surplus budget since 2008 projecting a RM3.862 billion revenue against an expenditure of RM3.812 billion.It was projected that RM1.147 billion of the State's revenue would be from the five per cent oil royalty payable by Petronas to the State in 2015. "I have asked before in the State Assembly sitting that on what basis our Chief Minister made the calculation? Assuming that it was calculated based on the world oil price at US$100 per barrel, now the world oil price is at US$47 only, and it could drop further depending on the global oil politics. "The slump in oil price has been translated to the huge dent in projected revenues from oil royalty to our State coffers" he said, adding that the 50 per cent drop in oil price was equivalent to a shortfall of RM0.573 billion, nearly a 15 per cent drop of the projected revenue, RM3.862 billion.
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"As our anticipated surplus is RM0.05 billion or RM50 million only, then the drop in oil price will easily offset the surplus," said Chan, who is Sri Tanjung assemblyman.The core question now, he said, is what would be the planning and action by the State Government to address the issue, and whether it is committed to maintain this year's budget as the first surplus budget since 2008.
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"What kind of new revenue should the State look for? What kind of expenses is our Chief Minister prepared to slash, including his own department? These are the agendas the assemblymen should debate.""I call for a revision for the State Budget as it is very basic and projections had been knocked off by the drastic fall in the oil price and other economic developments, including the weakening of the Malaysian ringgit," he said."A special sitting could be convened in as quickly as 48 hours. The sitting is urgent and imperative, as apart from a revised 2015 Budget, many issues confronting the State should be debated as well," he said.The first issue was the report on the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Sabah's Illegal Immigrants, which Chan said should be debated in the State Assembly and whether the State should endorse the suggestions in the report."Secondly, the new state sales tax being imposed on seafood export beginning this year should be brought forward for debate in the special assembly sitting as well. I have questioned the legality of the implementation, which is without any amendment of the enactment."I agree that we need to look for new revenues for the State, but it should not burden the seafood industry specifically and the people generally," he said.Thirdly, as the postponement in the electricity tariff was among the highlights in Putrajaya's revised budget, the State administration should revise both electricity and water tariff to bring some cheer to Sabahan consumers.Following the world oil price slump, power generation cost should be cheaper and it is imperative to revise the electricity tariff to a lower price, he said. The new water tariff that began this year and saw a 70 per cent hike for industrial users should be deferred and then revised. Furthermore, the new water tariff was announced by State Infrastructure Development Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan during his ministry winding up remarks in last November sitting and it was never debated thoroughly by the people's representatives.Fourthly, a resolution to urge the Federal Government to defer the Goods and Services Tax (GST) until Malaysia had achieved the status of a developed and high income nation, should be proposed by the State's administration in this special State Assembly sitting, he said. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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