SARAWAKIAN lawmakers have continued their verbal barrage of Finance Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Gua Eng, hammering him over his claim that Sarawak would go bankrupt in three years.

Last night, Sarawak deputy chief minister Douglas Uggah equated Lim to Taju Remaong, the leopard man from Iban folklore that baits and then kills its victims.

The king figure in the tale snares its victims by laying traps laced with goodies along jungle paths.

Those unfortunate enough to pick them up are snared and ultimately doomed.

Uggah used the tale while helping residents of Rumah Miekle Ding in Sebaoh, Bintulu, at their Gawai ngiling tikai (rolling the mat) ceremony last night, in his analogy of Lim.

He told the 1,000 or so residents that Lim’s claim of Sarawak going bankrupt because of its high annual budget was akin to the trap set by the mythical king.

“It is the same in Guan Eng’s case. He lays the bait with his bankrupt claim.

“If Sarawakians are to believe him, we are doomed,” Uggah said.

During a Sarawak DAP fund raiser in Kuching on Friday night, Lim told party faithful that Sarawak would go bankrupt if it continued to be administered by Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS).

Lim did not say so directly, but he inferred that Sarawak would have to dip into its RM30 billion reserves when he said that given the state’s annual budget of RM11 billion, the reserve would dry up in three years.

Uggah said Lim’s claim was another election ploy by the Pakatan Harapan coalition, adding that it reeked of Lim’s ignorance of the state government’s prudent management of its resources, including finance.

In a statement today, the Sarawak ministry of finance and economic planning said Lim’s prediction was totally misleading because the state had recorded budget surpluses for many years as a result of higher revenue than expenditure.

Providing statistics for the past five years from 2014, the ministry stated in 2014, the state’s surplus in 2014 was RM3 billion, RM966 million in 2015, RM346 million in 2016, RM1 billion in 2017 and RM110 million last year.

“The continuous budget surpluses have enabled the state to build up its reserves,” the statement added.

Citing the auditor-general’s reports that had accorded Sarawak “with an unqualified report for the past 17 consecutive years”, the international rating by reputable agencies like Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, the ministry said it showed the state government “is a responsible government that has always been practicing and upholding the principle of a disciplined and responsible financial management”.

“These achievements are clear testimony of the state’s continuous sound financial management in exercising financial prudence and financial discipline at all levels.”

While the ministry dismissed Lim’s claim as political in nature, it was incumbent on him as minister of finance to be careful and responsible with statements he makes. – June 23, 2019.