NS - RM193 million deficit Budget for 2003 passed in 1 1/4 days!

Media Statement
by DAP Negeri Sembilan State Secretary, Loke Siew Fook
on Wednesday, October 23, 2002
in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan

1 1/4 days debate on the State Government's RM193 million deficit Budget for 2003: BN elected representatives lazy, not serious, irresponsible and should be voted out of office in the next general election!

The tabling and debate of the Negeri Sembilan State Government Budget's 2003 which was scheduled to last for 5 days from 21st to 25th October was ended in just two days! The budget sitting in the State Legislative Assembly is the single most important event of the year in the highest law making body in the state but the lackadaisical attitude of the Barisan Nasional's elected representatives clearly showed their laziness, irresponsibility and should be voted out of office in the next general election.

The scheduled 5 days sittings should be fully used by the State Assemblymen to debate the many Assembly Papers involved in the Budget like the Estimation of Managing Expenditure, Estimation of Development Expenditure, State Government's Revenue Estimation, Water Supply Estimation, the many issues and aspects of the running of the state government and the state of affairs of economy in Negeri Sembilan. All these Assembly Papers and the subsequent debates were bulldozed by the Assembly in a lightning speed.

The passing of the budget which resulted a RM193.68 million deficit in the state coffer without much questions and debates by the Assemblymen is a very worrying development and very unhealthy in the state government as the elected representatives do not seems to be bothered and concerned about the large deficit and how the state government planned to spend the monies.

The RM193 million deficit is even bigger than the total estimated income of the state government at RM179 million in 2003. No Assemblyman questioned the reduction of the state revenue by RM12.97 million or -6.74% and the increase of expenditure from the previous year. In business terms, this a very bad business as revenue reduced while expenditure is increasing. How the state government could justify this huge deficit and how long will it take to recover to get the state's account return to black? Even if there is no expenditure at all for the coming year, the total revenue for the year could not cover the deficit based on the estimation. The bad and irresponsible planning of the state budget by the Barisan Nasional government will cause the Negeri Sembilan residents to continue to bear the debts incurred by the excessive expenditure in the coming years.

Although the State Assembly was in sitting officially for 2 days (not taken into consideration of the Royal Address), but in actual fact, the actual debates was only 1 1/4 days. 3/4 of the first day was spent by the BN Assemblymen to encore the rhetoric in supporting the Federal Government's move to implement the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English.

The 3/4 days spent to debate a subject totally irrelevant to the State Assembly is a wasting of time and taxpayers monies. I agreed that the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English is a very important national issue and of public importance, however the State Assembly is not a suitable venue to discuss the subject for the simple reason that it's not under the jurisdiction of the State Legislative Assembly to decide the matter as education issues is a Federal matter and must be debated in the Federal Parliament. Furthermore, what is the point of debating the issue in the Assembly totally controlled by the ruling party and without any alternative voices?

If the Barisan Nasional government is sincere of discussing and debating the issue, they should have moved a motion in the Parliament to allocate 2 full days for both the backbenchers and opposition members to debate the issue before reaching a conclusion to implement the new policy. If the Barisan Nasional has any respect for the highest Legislative body in the country, then Parliament should have the final say on the decision that concerns the interest and future of our future generations and not for the BN Supreme Council to decide.

The failure of the BN Assemblymen particularly those from MCA who represent the constituencies of Temiang, Lobak, Rahang and Mambau which cover almost the entire Seremban town, to highlight the issues and problems in the town is most disappointing. Millions of ringgit has been spent to solve the flood problems in Seremban town throughout the years, but the state government could not give a convincing answer why it still happened and the ways to solve the problem.

State Assemblyman for Temiang, Datuk Lee Yuen Fong did not even dare to ask for allocation from the state government to compensate the 11 families staying in Taman Permai whose houses were badly affected by the landslides caused by a heavy downpour and was told to evacuate since 10 days ago.

The large deficit budget and the lackadaisical debate in the Negeri Sembilan State Assembly should act as a reminder to the NS voters that the absence of opposition in the Assembly enables the BN representatives to act as they like without any supervisions and check and balances. To ensure good governance in Negeri Sembilan in the future, the people must ensure the return of a strong opposition representation from the DAP in the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly in the next general election.