Sarawak Utilities Minister Stephen Rundi Utom said the amount allocated by Putrajaya for the state's electricity and water infrastructure was not enough.
According to Bernama, Stephen Rundi (photo) said the state will just have to make do.
"The allocated amount of RM620 million (electricity) for 10,000 houses and RM300 million (water) for 3,000 houses for Sarawak and Sabah are still not big enough.
"According to our plan, we need much more than that, but we thank the prime minister for giving a quite sizeable amount for us to actually implement what we have planned and the priority we have to do," he said.
He was asked to comment on the budget when met by reporters at the Sibu Water Board Appreciation and Innovation Night dinner last night.
He said the state had a lot of catching up to do in terms of electricity and water supply coverage due to its vast size, scattered population and logistics problem.
"We hope we can go for a midterm review, rolling plan and so on later on. Actually catching up with our plan is something that we really focus on, otherwise the state of Sarawak will lag so much behind compared to the other states in Malaysia," he said.
Meanwhile, Rundi said his ministry was in the process of gazetting more than 30 of 58 water catchments areas in the state.
He said the documentation for the gazette was being carried out and expected to be completed by year end.
"We have to protect our water source as it is the only way to survive," he said.
- Bernama