A SARAWAK-BASED non-partisan civil society organisation (CSO), Rise of Social Efforts, has questioned if all opposition-held constituencies in the state are allocated the development funds equally.

The question arose after Premier Abang Johari Openg recently approved the rural transformation programme and minor rural projects funding for the opposition-held constituency of Bawang Assan.

The seat’s elected representative is Parti Sarawak Bersatu president Wong Soon Koh.

The CSO, better known by its acronym ROSE, is now asking if the other five opposition-held constituencies – Pending, Padungan, Batu Lintang, Engkilili and Ba Kelalan – will get the same allocation as well.

“As (the) CDF (constituency development fund) is from public funds, it should not be used to advantage certain political parties in the state government, but instead be allocated to all elected representatives no matter their affiliation,” it said.

ROSE said no allocation for opposition-held areas meant that it was a form of punishment for the residents who had voted for the opposition.

It said these funds for minor projects were meant to address urgent development or delivery gaps, particularly in the more rural constituencies.

It said what is also happening is that voters are being “taught” that they will be deprived of development if they do not vote for the ruling party.

“Consequently, they are taught to judge the performance of their elected representative in the DUN (state assembly) by the allocation of grants, instead of his or her performance as a policy-maker at the DUN,” it said.

ROSE said these are grants drawn from public funds, including taxes paid by the people.

It said if the state’s Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government had not made such an allocation, it could then emulate what the Selangor, Perak and Johor governments had done.

Currently, in Sarawak, all the GPS elected representatives get RM8 million annually to speed up the delivery or implementation of small, rural or minor projects, instead of waiting under usual circumstances for development project budgets to be approved and presented under relevant ministries. – June 13, 2023.