Gooi Hsiao Leung (PKR-Bukit Tengah) said the current “federalist” nature of Penang, like other states in the country, has stifled the state’s autonomy and the return of taxpayers’ money that it was entitled to receive.
He said although the Federal Constitution recognises the sovereignty of each state on paper, the reality was different as the control structure was tied closely to the central government.
“By granting greater autonomy to our state government, greater freedom and flexibility to make decisions at the state level, I believe we will be able to develop and progress faster for a better Penang.
“We are in the best position to know what is needed for our state, instead of bureaucrats stationed far away in Putrajaya,” he said during his debate on the 2019 Supply Bill at the state assembly today.
Gooi said the provision concerning state and federal relations in the Federal Constitution ought to be reviewed and amended so as to provide more autonomy in the fields of education, transportation, health and matters related to policing.
Taking the example of the Bukit Tengah police station here, he said the lack of federal funds had left it understaffed to patrol a “huge area”. There is also no money to upkeep the police station.
Gooi also said federalism had also prevented Penangites from exercising its third vote, which was to elect their local government officials — an issue he said was “very dear to Penangites”.
Besides that, he said, the way federal funds are distributed ought to be looked into, as it was more often than not done in an “unfair and inequitable” manner.
Gooi said a case in point was when Penang received a “puny 3%” of the tax revenue collected from the state from 2001 to 2008.
He said the total of all the 13 state budgets was also telling, with it being equivalent to 6% of the 2013 federal budget, with the amount dropping to 0.02% in the 2018 federal budget.
Gooi later quoted an article criticising federalism written by Zairil Khir Johari (DAP-Tanjung Bungah) in 2014, where Zairil had said it was a “scandal” when a state government could only spend less than “half a per cent” of the national budget.
He said Zairil had even noted that the Penang government had even operated on a budget smaller than some public universities.
“We know for a fact that for more than 60 years, the past federal government had undermined and treated states unfairly with uneven spending and preferential treatment of the different states.
“Remember when Pakatan took over Penang in 2008? The federal government then diverted development funds from district offices to the state development office, which comes under the Prime Minister’s Department.
“With a sympathetic and friendly Pakatan federal government in place today, the Penang government must start negotiations on devolving powers to the state.
“The spirit of our federalism respecting the sovereignty of each state is just on paper, but it is not in spirit.
“We can start by urging our parliamentarians to move to review and amend the Ninth Schedule of the Federal Constitution concerning federal and state powers.”