Jaujan urges local authorities to generate own income
TAWAU: Local authorities in Sabah must be able to source and generate their own income rather than to depend on grants from the state or federal government.
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Jaujan Sambakong said he wants local authorities to source and increase their own source of revenue so that their income can be increased.
He said this is because local authorities were the early administration before there was any legislation and therefore he does not want to see them depending too much on the government and federal grants.
Instead, Jaujan said local authorities should be like a government within a government but of course it would need to find their own resources.
“Local authorities must be independent in seeking economic resources,” he said during his first official visit to the Tawau Municipal Council (TMC) yesterday morning.
During the visit, he was given a briefing by TMC president Alijus Sipil.
Jaujan said from the briefing he can see that Tawau is a large municipal council in Sabah, much larger than Negeri Sembilan, with an area of more than 6,000 square kilometres wide and a population of over half a million and in time to come may be elevated to a city status.
He noted that Tawau is an area that is not only the oldest but the most recognizable, especially in the east coast of Sabah, Kalimantan and Sulawesi, Indonesia which it already has ties with.
“I can see that TMC’s plans are on target of being achieved, only that what is more important is we must plan ahead of time as we are aware that the population is growing and the demands of the people are increasing in terms of service quality and delivery,” he said.
Under the new government, with people’s expectations getting higher, there is a need for changes, a need for improvement, not only to be seen but also to be felt, he added.
He said the government must be a step ahead of the people and have proper plans, such as providing affordable housing and quality services.