The Sarawak legislative assembly today approved the Supplementary Supply (2012) Bill 2013 of RM263.7 million for various development projects and operational expenditure this year.

State Second Finance Minister Wong Soon Koh said the bill was for the first supplementary estimates for development in 2013.

"An additional sum of RM263,733,874.00 is required under the First Supplementary Estimates of Development Expenditure 2013 to meet the additional requirement for the implementation of various development programmes and projects for the year.

"It represents an increase of about eight per cent over the original development expenditure estimate of RM3.4 billion for 2013," he said.

The additional allocation includes RM27 million for the state Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Communication, with the funding approved by the state cabinet in January 2013.

A sum of RM127.9 million is required by the Ministry of Public Utilities for the implementation of various water supply projects throughtout the state, while the Ministry of Industrial Development needs RM6.3 million for various state projects.

The Ministry of Rural Development requires RM37.6 million to implement  projects in the Beladin, Sundar Awat-Awat and Semop Rural Growth Centres.

A sum of RM30.7 million will go to the State Financial Secretary, RM32 million to the Social Development Ministry for the construction of an aquatic centre at the State Sports Complex in Petra Jaya, Kuching, and RM2 million to the Tourism Ministry to implement the River Taxi Project at Sungai Sarawak.

- Bernama