KUCHING : The coming Sarawak state elections will be held in one
day at a cost estimated to be three times higher than the 1996 polls,
said Election Commission chairman Datuk Haji Abdul Rashid.
He said the commission was expected to spend RM24mil to conduct
the polls, compared to RM7.9mil in 1996, because it has to lease
more helicopters, motor vehicles and boats to reach especially the
remote constituencies.
"We will use 38
helicopters the, majority of them will be leased from the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand," he told reporters after meeting returning
officers and their assistants at a special briefing conducted by
the commission at the Holiday Inn here.
He said it would cost
more to hire several thousand units of four-wheel drives and boats
to ferry election workers.
The commission has
recruited some - 16,000 election workers, including returing officers,
polling Officers and clerks to ensure smooth Polling.
He said it would be
worthwhile for the Government to spend more to bring Sarawak elections
on par with the general election in other parts of the country.
"We have improved
by reducing the time taken to conduct the polls from one month to
three weeks, and five days to one day," he added.
Rashid said the briefings
and training for election workers would be completed by next month,
and that the commission, would reactivate its operations room at,
the end of this month.
The current five-year
term of office of the 62 assemblymen expires in November. The Barisan
National has 58 assemblymen, DAP one while the other three are independents.
Rashid 861,377 voters
were eligible to vote this time, up from 824,347 in 1996.
|
