‘How will Sarawak’s record revenue, tallest flagpole help native poor?’

[superadmin]

MIRI – Many families among Sarawak’s interior tribes are still struggling to put food on the table, a native activist said, even as the state government prides itself on having earned the highest state revenue for 2022 and on its tallest flagpole project.

Harry Wing, a native of the remote Belaga district near the Bakun Dam, said politicians in Kuching are obsessed with these claims while the reality on the ground is a different picture.

“Those in rural areas don’t have enough cash to last even a few days. Our wooden huts are leaking.

“Families from the Penan and other Orang Ulu communities have no jobs and are also not receiving welfare aid from the state government.

“All these claims of having the highest this and that are not reflective of the real situation in rural Sarawak,” he told The Vibes.

Sarawak’s 2022 revenue of RM11.9 billion was its highest annual earnings ever, Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg announced recently – 17% higher than the projected revenue of RM10.2 billion initially.

Wing, however, questioned how much of the state revenue had brought real benefits to Sarawak’s poorest citizens.

- More -