PBDS president Bobby William in a statement yesterday said PBDS is thankful to the Prime Minister for giving the Borneo states direct control over federal projects worth RM50 million and below.
MIRI (Jan 6): Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS) views the decision by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to allow Sabah and Sarawak to have control over projects worth RM50 million and below as a step towards full restoration of rights enshrined under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
PBDS president Bobby William in a statement yesterday said PBDS is thankful to the Prime Minister for giving the Borneo states direct control over federal projects worth RM50 million and below.
“The Cabinet’s decision is indeed a good move which ensures speedy disbursement of funds, while doing away with unnecessary bureaucratic red tape.
“But here PBDS would like to ask on its implementation, as in how these will be carried out to ensure transparency, so that these projects will not go to Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and their cronies alone,” he noted.
While welcoming the move, he however asserted that Sabah and Sarawak must also be given full autonomy over other matters such as education, health and immigration.
These include for both states to have autonomy over immigration rights and citizenship applications without having to refer to Putrajaya, he said.
“The other issue that we felt has been unfairly taken from us was the national budget for Sabah and Sarawak. The allocation must be equally divided – as in 33 per cent for Sabah, 33 per cent for Sarawak and the remaining 33 per cent for Malaya,” he pointed out.