KUCHING: The parking of funds in the state and national budgets is a common budgetary procedure, practised not only in Sarawak but also in Pakatan Rakyat-ruled states such as Penang and Selangor.
Par t i Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) supreme council member Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah thus reg ret ted the repeated allegation of Kota Sentosa assemblyman Chong Chieng Jen over the so called RM11 billion ‘black hole’ in the state budget.
Abdul Karim, who is Asajaya assemblyman, said that Chong’s repeated statements on the black hole in the state budget refl ected his ignorance about budgetary and accounting procedures.
“He (Chong) is talking like a school boy and trying to hoodwink the public with malicious and incorrect statement – alleging that the Chief Minister has siphoned money from the state coffers for personal gain or for crony companies,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Abdul Karim, the Assistant Minister of Youth Development advi s ed Chong not to play ‘coffee shop’ politics but instead to hold his head high and be a responsible and dignifi ed people’s representative.
He said the people should not be easily influenced by the opposition’s allegation that there was a RM11 billion black hole in the state budget. He added that Sarawak was the only state, apart from the Malaysian government, which had received accreditation not only from domestic rating agencies such as RAM, but also from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.
“Their ratings of the state have always been very good and this reflects the state of our financial standing.
Also, the huge financial reserve that the state has reflects our good financial management.”
Abdul Karim even claimed that the combined reserves of all states in the country were less than half of what Sarawak has.
“What does this show? YB Chong, check your facts first before ridiculing the state government,” he said.
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