Well done, thank you – CM
KOTA KINABALU: The Chief Minister has attributed Sabah’s success story to all civil servants.
“It is not my individual achievement and success as the Chief Minister or as Finance Minister. It is the achievement and success of us all, the product of hard work, support, loyalty and commitment of all of us, the product of cooperation between all members of the civil service as very important implementing machineries,” said Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman in his address to both State and Federal civil servants at the Sabah Administrative Complex auditorium near here yesterday.
He added that without their support and hard work as civil servants, the State would not achieve its present stage of success.
“Believe me, we have been and are on the right platform, the best platform to continue this progress and triumph. Thank you all,” he said.
“Civil servants in Sabah, not just at headquarters but also at district and sub-district levels, are friends and team members, we are a team!” said Musa.
Musa urged all the civil servants to continue their commitment and carry out their respective tasks and responsibilities to ensure all government plans for 2018 and beyond are effectively implemented.
He added that it was also important for them to ensure the positive impacts and benefits of these reached the target group and citizens.
In his speech, Musa also mentioned the importance of having a strong relationship with the Federal government.
“Thanks to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak for always lending an ear to our voice by channelling large allocations for the socio-development in Sabah. Although a lot of development had been achieved, there are still many that needs to be implemented particularly in terms of infrastructure development and public facilities for the people,” said Musa.
He said that Sabah needed a huge allocation from the Federal Government to further improve public facilities such as hospitals and government clinics, schools and universities, as well as infrastructures such as roads, water and electricity; and security assets to further strengthen the aspect of defence in Sabah.
He also said that the Pan Borneo highway, for example, will be able to raise quality and access as well as improve connectivity and spur local economic activities, subsequently steering the development of Sabah.
The highway, he said, costs nearly RM13 billion encompassing a distance of 730km from Sindumin to Tawau.
At the same time, Musa also spoke of the State Halatuju and the need for the State to stop its full economic dependence on logging activities.
“We had to look for alternatives to generate our economy. Since Sabah was endowed with her beautiful nature and rich culture, we decided to make tourism as one of the Halatuju sectors,” he said.
“Today, tourism generates the economy, creating jobs and businesses throughout the State. Between Jan to Nov, 2017, a total of 3.3 million tourists visited Sabah. This was a hike of 7.8 percent in comparison to about 3.07 million tourists that arrived during the same period of the previous year,” he said.
Sabah also received an estimated RM7.02 billion in tourism receipts in 2017, which was a hike of about 7.8 percent in comparison to 2016 (RM6.52 billion during the same period).
The Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) also handled 418 domestic and 178 international flights weekly, while hotels in Kota Kinabalu registered the highest occupancy rate throughout the year, he said.
In addition, Sabah’s Crude Palm Oil tax sales became the second largest contributor to the State fund averaging between RM800 million and RM1 billion, he said.
“We need to explore the potentials in the development of downstream processing of oil palm, by turning it into a manufacturing sector to generate other source of income for Sabah,” he said.
He said that this was the objective of the Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) which recorded 44 projects with investments worth RM3.35 billion and the creation of 2,293 jobs. POIC Sandakan has already implemented three projects with investments worth RM158 million, he said.
Aside from that, Musa said that the oil and gas industries continued being the catalyst in steering the State’s social and economic development.