Sabah, Sarawak rural road funding has not been cancelled, says minister

KOTA KINABALU, Oct 29 — Allegations regarding the cancellation or reduction of allocations for the rural road projects (JALB) in Sabah and Sarawak by the Madani Government need to be examined based on accurate facts and information, said the Sabah PKR Leadership Council chairman Datuk Mustapha Sakmud.

In this regard, he suggested that any party raising the matter should provide detailed information, including an official list of projects, allocation values and their implementation status.

Mustapha, who is also the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs), said that the directive to postpone the issuance of new Letters of Acceptance (SST) dated September 10 was an internal financial control measure to prevent the increase of contract commitments exceeding the annual ceiling and not the cancellation of approved development projects.

“The fact is, the original allocation for JALB at the national level continues to increase from RM2.11 billion for the year 2026 to RM2.27 billion for the year 2027, compared to the previous era which never reached RM1 billion before Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s administration initiated an allocation of RM1.09 billion in 2023.

“In fact, the Ministry of Finance has approved an additional expenditure of RM500 million in 2026 to help address the backlog of payments to JALB contractors to ensure the commitments of existing projects can be fulfilled,” he said.

He said this after chairing a special coordination meeting of the Kota Kinabalu Disaster Committee at Kota Kinabalu City Hall here today.

Mustapha said the federal government’s continued commitment to the development of the Borneo region is reflected in Budget 2027, which allocates RM18.7 billion to Sabah compared to RM17.6 billion previously, while the allocation for Sarawak is increased from RM15.1 billion to RM16.2 billion.

“Meanwhile, an amount of RM3.3 billion has also been allocated specifically for the implementation of road projects in Sabah and Sarawak, covering the continuation of the development of strategic road networks,” he also said.

He emphasised that the development of basic facilities in Sabah and Sarawak remains a long-term investment priority of the Madani Government to strengthen connectivity and bridge the gap between regions. — Bernama

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哥打基纳巴卢，10月29日讯——沙巴人民公正党领导委员会主席拿督穆斯塔法·萨克穆德表示，有关马达尼政府取消或减少沙巴和砂拉越农村道路项目拨款的指控需要根据准确的事实和信息进行审查。

在这方面，他建议任何提出此事的一方都应该提供详细信息，包括项目的正式清单、分配金额及其执行情况。

穆斯塔法同时也是首相署（沙巴和砂拉越事务）部长，他表示，9月10日发布的推迟签发新的中标函（SST）的指令是一项内部财务控制措施，旨在防止合同承诺增加超过年度上限，而不是取消已批准的发展项目。

“事实上，国家层面的JALB原始拨款从2026年的21.1亿令吉持续增加到2027年的22.7亿令吉，而在此之前，在首相拿督斯里安华·易卜拉欣政府于2023年启动10.9亿令吉的拨款之前，该拨款从未达到10亿令吉。

“事实上，财政部已批准在 2026 年追加 5 亿令吉的支出，以帮助解决拖欠 JALB 承包商的款项，以确保现有项目的承诺能够得到履行，”他说。

他今天在亚庇市政厅主持召开亚庇灾害委员会特别协调会议后发表了上述讲话。

穆斯塔法表示，联邦政府对婆罗洲地区发展的持续承诺体现在2027年财政预算案中，该预算案为沙巴拨款187亿令吉，高于之前的176亿令吉，而为砂拉越拨款则从151亿令吉增加到162亿令吉。

“与此同时，政府还专门拨款33亿令吉用于沙巴和砂拉越的道路项目实施，涵盖战略公路网络的持续发展，”他还表示。

他强调，发展沙巴和砂拉越的基础设施仍然是马达尼政府的长期投资重点，旨在加强互联互通，缩小区域间的差距。——马新社

法米表示，希望联盟目前仍坚持在马六甲州选举中争取21个席位的目标。

阿布·拉乌夫表示，马六甲国阵已在州选举前与马华公会解决议席纠纷。

森美兰州警方查获376公斤穿山甲鳞片，价值376,200令吉