KOTA KINABALU: Tawau MP Datuk Chua Soon Bui has described the Prime Minister's recent proclamation that Sabah is now no longer the poorest State in Malaysia as a desperate spin to cover up the sad and shameful reality affecting the people of Sabah.
She added that it was also a "double insult" to the people of Sabah, who had gone from riches to rags, despite being endowed with God-given rich natural resources.
In a statement here Tuesday, she said measurement of poverty should not be based on average per capita income as the only pointer as stated by the Prime Minister.
"This is especially so wher the gap between the rich and the poor has greatly widened in the recent years in Sabah,” she said.
Nothing that such measurement is very deceiving to the people, she demanded the Prime Minister’s Department give the true picture on the new Poverty Line Income in Sabah, compared with other states.
She contended that with the escalating cost of living and food prices, the Poverty Line Income (PLI) in Sabah of RM1,048 (PLI for Sarawak is RM912, for Peninsular Malaysia is RM763) should be reviewed, adding that the average people in Sabah have been struggling to make ends meet, almost every day.
Chua, who is also a vice prisedent of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), said since the Government has done a survey through the BR1M registration, it should not be a problem for the Government together sufficient statistic to reveal the true picture.
With the reported 400,000 cases of BR1M approve in Sabah it is estimated from the total households of 621,500 (2009 report), 54 per cent of Sabah households earn less than RM3,000 and about 100,000 households earned less than RM1,000 (2010 report) i.e. below the Poverty Line Income, she noted.
"It is therefore a miracle that Sabah being the poorest state as reported in the Would Bank (2009) suddenly finds many poor families had disappeared. It is very unfair to paint a rosy picture to hide the reality of the suffering of the poor families," she said.
“Do we need another World Bank report to comfirm this?” she asked.
She urged the Federal Government to grab the bull by its horns and to reinforce its poverty-eradication programme,instead of painting a rosy picture to mislead the entire nation, the people of Sabah in particular, to think thet the situation has improved for better when it has in fact worsened.
While concurring with the Prime Minister’s statement that Sabah has huge potential to surge forward with all the rich natural resources, Chua nonetheless regretted that all the riches had not fully benefited the people of Sabah, as highlighted by the Sabah Oil an Gas Contractors Association (Sogca) recently, lamenting that major contracts in the state oil and gas industry were not given to Sabah companies.
She especially regretted that a large portion of Sabah’s wealth was usurped by the Federal government, largely through some unfair policies such as the meagre five per cent oil royalty and the lopsided Cabotage Policy which is the main contributing factor to the high cost of living in Sabah.
Daily Express
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Page 5
Sabah still needs continuous effort from the government in order to achieve zero hard core poverty in the state. Hopefully more developments will be made in Sabah.
ReplyDeleteWe need more project implementation, more investment in Sabah in order to create high income jobs and to boost the economy of Sabah.
ReplyDeleteWe obviously need government intervention to eradicate poverty in Sabah.
ReplyDeleteImprovement and better infrastructures in relevant industries will definitely provide to high income jobs for the masses.
ReplyDeleteThe people desire more job opportunities in Sabah.
ReplyDeleteSabah is blessed with natural resources; the government can utilize what we have to improve the state.
ReplyDeleteLet’s remain optimistic as we are yet to experience the best in Sabah.
ReplyDeleteOnly when SAPP takes over the Sabah government from party malaya UMNO then Sabah economy will Prosper!
ReplyDeleteRemember, SAPP is Sabah New Hope!
its not for you alone to decide what is best for sabah. The people will decide for themselves when election comes.
DeleteThe effort must be continuously till sabah is completely free from poverty.
ReplyDeleteya.. jka usaha diteruskan pasti Sabah akan bebas dari kemiskinan dan menjadi negeri yang kaya.
DeleteSabah kini dilihat makin membangun dan ekonominya makin berkembang. kadar kemiskinan di Sabah pun berjaya dikurangkan.
ReplyDeletemestilah pembangkang tidak mahu bersetuju dengan kenyataan PM.. kalau mereka bersetuju, samalah ibarat menggali kubur sendiri.. macam manalah pembangkang mahu mengiyakan bahawa negeri ini bukan lagi negeri termiskin sedangkan itulah antara isu mujarab yang wajib mereka gunakan masa PRU nanti..
ReplyDeletekerajaan telah melaksanakan pelbagai program bantuan bagi membantu penduduk Sabah menjana atau meningkatkan pendapatan mereka.. jika pemimpin2 pembangkang benar2 ikhlas mahu rakyat di negeri ini keluar dari kepompong kemiskinan, mereka sepatutnya menyokong prohram2 kerajaan dan turut sama memantau perkembangan dan keberkesanan program tersebut..
ReplyDeleteMungkin apa yang dikatakan oleh PM ini untuk masa akan datang.
ReplyDeleteSemoga apa yang PM katakan itu akan menjadi kenyataan untuk penduduk Sabah.
ReplyDeleteusaha yang berterusan perlu agar pencapaian sekarang dapat dipertingkatkan lagi.
ReplyDeletePoverty can't be eradicated in one night. It is a continuous effort.
ReplyDelete