Kuching South City Council (MBKS) councillor Eric Tay said Sarawakians are more concerned about who can deliver greater development for the state than engaging in endless political arguments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tay said recent discussions surrounding the Batang Lupar, Batang Igan and Batang Rambungan bridge projects, as well as Phase 1 of the Sabah-Sarawak Link Road (SSLR), had renewed public interest in the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said recent clarifications by Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, supported by documents and references cited by former deputy minister and Member of Parliament Datuk Willie Mongin, including official correspondence from the Ministry of Finance, Parliamentary Hansard and records from the Ministry of Works, had helped the public better understand the background of the three bridge projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Tay, the three bridges were ultimately completed because the Sarawak Government decided to finance and continue the projects using state funds after federal funding was no longer available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the move reflected the Sarawak Government’s commitment to fulfilling its promises and ensuring the long-awaited projects benefitted communities along the state’s coastal areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather than dwelling on past disputes, Tay said the people are more interested in knowing who can secure greater development opportunities and federal allocations for Sarawak to improve infrastructure and raise living standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted that Sarawak DAP had cited mega infrastructure projects in Peninsular Malaysia, including LRT3, MRT2 and the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), as examples of successful cost renegotiations by the Federal Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Tay questioned why projects of similar scale and value had not been secured for Sarawak, saying the public had every right to ask why more federal funding was not allocated to the state instead of placing a greater financial burden on the Sarawak Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said Sarawak has consistently contributed significantly to Malaysia’s economy, energy security and federal revenue, and therefore deserved development funding and investments that reflected those contributions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tay also pointed out that DAP currently has 40 Members of Parliament, making it the largest single party in Parliament, while Pakatan Harapan collectively holds close to 80 MPs compared to Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s (GPS) 23 MPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said with such strong representation at the federal level, the public expects tangible results, including increased federal funding, more major development projects and completed initiatives that directly benefit Sarawakians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tay said politicians should focus on securing development resources, improving healthcare, education and transportation, and addressing the needs of grassroots communities instead of engaging in political confrontations or distorting facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also said racial politics and fearmongering should not be tolerated, adding that Sarawak has long been an example of harmony, with people of different races and religions living together peacefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tay expressed confidence that greater unity, inclusiveness and cooperation would strengthen the country’s economy, improve infrastructure, support businesses and enhance the quality of life for all Malaysians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kuching South City Council (MBKS) councillor Eric Tay said Sarawakians are more concerned about who can deliver greater development for the state than engaging in endless political arguments. Tay said recent discussions surrounding the Batang Lupar, Batang Igan and Batang Rambungan bridge projects, as well as Phase 1 of the Sabah-Sarawak Link Road (SSLR), had renewed public interest in the issue. He said recent clarifications by Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi, supported by documents and references cited by former deputy minister and Member of Parliament Datuk Willie Mongin,Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33815,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34913"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34913"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34914,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34913\/revisions\/34914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.suppnewsportal.com\/main\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}