Datuk Mutang Tagal
MIRI (Jan 6): The Orang Ulu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OUCCI) has called for Sarawak and Sabah to be given autonomy in managing federal projects worth up to RM500 million instead of the RM50 million announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
OUCCI chairman Datuk Mutang Tagal said as Malaysia advances to an economy of over RM1 trillion to RM2 trillion by 2030, the RM50 million cap for projects in the Borneo states would be minuscule in comparison to much bigger projects rolled out by the federal government.
Mutang said the two huge regions require substantial federal funds to speed up the implementation and completion of these projects which are in sparsely populated areas covering infrastructure such as tar-sealed roads; bridges; treated water supply; 24-hour electricity; as well as reliable and faster broadband internet connectivity and access.
“A request for the cap to increase to RM500 million is reasonable in accordance with the intent and spirit of Article 112D of the Federal Constitution relating to special grants to Sarawak and Sabah and as provided for also in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),” he opined.
The former MP commended Anwar and his administration for taking the first step towards redressing the issue of reviewing the special grant for East Malaysia every five years, saying it has been neglected and should have been carried out 12 times in the past 60 years since the country’s formation.
According to him, OUCCI also hopes the Sarawak and Sabah governments will not apply the open tender system for the projects but allow the respective chambers to conduct their own tenders, contracts, and procurement systems with strict supervision and monitoring by the government to ensure openness, transparency, and timely delivery.
“OUCCI also called for federal projects to be allocated to OUCCI, ACCCIS (Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Sarawak), DUBS (Sarawak Bumiputera Entrepreneurs Chamber), DCCI (Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry), PKMM (Malaysian Malay Contractors Association) as it is an open secret that many small and medium size contractors of these chambers have no chance of winning government contracts through the public open tender system,” he explained.
Mutang said government procedures on tenders, funding, treasury instructions, project scheduling, and monitoring have to be appropriately modified to allow projects to be implemented by these chambers with strict monitoring by the approved government implementing agencies such as the Public Works Department (JKR) and consultants.
The respective chambers should also adopt their own tendering procedures for federal projects allocated to them so that members have a fair chance of participating in the project rollouts while member contractors and enterprises are empowered economically and able to grow and contribute towards the economy of the country, he said.
He added as small and medium enterprises are important generators of revenue, employment, and tax for the government, it is right and proper that they should benefit from the rollout of federal projects in Sarawak and Sabah.
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