PKR today criticised the government’s decision to cut basic food subsidies for Sabah and Sarawak by a massive 60 percent in the 2015 Budget.

Penampang MP Darell Leiking ( left ) and Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen said they were “disappointed” with the move and also called the explanation by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry to justify the move as “nonsensical”.

“PKR is of the view that such a massive 60 percent drop in budget allocation is a clear signal from the government that BN does not have the best interests of the people of Sabah and Sarawak in their hearts,” Leiking said during a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

The deduction was under the 1Malaysia 1Harga program. The ministry allocated RM85 million in 2014 but only allocated RM33 million for next year.

The government has argued that the massive drop was largely due to a drop in demand for cooking oil in Sabah and Sarawak.

"This answer is nonsensical as this will mean that the cooking oil subsidy was extremely high for 2014 at around RM 60 million," Leiking said.