Not Just Johor Penang Also Unhappy At Unfair Treatment Pkr Rep

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Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar's unhappiness with the federal government’s "unfair treatment" of the southern state is not alien to many, especially Penang, said state assemblyperson Gooi Hsiao Leung.
Gooi, who is the northern state’s Bukit Tengah representative, said Penang has long complained of not receiving a fair share of federal development allocations despite having contributed so much to the country’s revenue and economy.
"The federal government must be reminded that each of the 13 states altogether make up the federation of Malaysia," Gooi said in a statement.
"Every state must have the right and given its fair share of financial support to develop their own state according to the aspirations of its people without being held ransom by the federal government regardless of which political party is in power," said the PKR MP.
Gooi (above) was referring to the Johor ruler's statement on June 16 where his majesty expressed feelings of discontent, strongly rebuking the federal government for unfairly treating Johor as a "stepchild" in federal funding allocations.
The sultan urged the federal government to give more allocation to the state, saying that every year, almost RM13 billion of federal revenue is collected from Johor.
He also said Johor would possibly be more developed if it stood on its own feet.
“Don’t let the people of Johor be forced to leave Malaysia,” he had said.
Gooi said Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow at the recently concluded state legislative assembly sitting in early June, led the way by setting up a special committee on the matter.
Time to be self-reliant
An interim report by the special committee entitled “Enabling Decentralisation and Improving Federal-State Relations in the Federation of Malaysia” made the following recommendations:
To advocate for the establishment of a national commission on federal-state relations to review and restructure all working aspects of our federal-state relations, in order to empower state governments with more powers, responsibilities and funds (and in particular to address fiscal imbalances such as federal transfers, revenue-raising, and redistribution and sharing of taxes) - to develop the respective states.
The setting up of an intergovernmental all-states committee to enhance cooperation between the states in furthering common shared interests and to develop mechanisms to coordinate their collective response to federal-state relations issues.
That a standing/select committee be established by the Penang state legislative assembly on federal-state relations - to inquire into and report upon matters concerning all operational and administrative working arrangements between federal and state government agencies, on finance, health, social welfare, education, road works, disaster management, flood mitigation, trade and industry, the civil service, etc.
Gooi said the time has come for states to become self-reliant to pursue their long-term development goals.
"It is hoped that in the coming GE (general election), we will see the emergence of a common platform among the states to rally and push for the restructuring of our federal-state relations to secure a more democratic, fair, just, and equitable future for all the states and the country as a whole," he added. - Mkini

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