Negotiate for 5% share of RM30 bln Petronas dividend

KARANAAN assemblyman Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun hopes the State Government will negotiate for a five percent share of the RM30 billion one-off special dividend given by Petronas to the Federal Government.

He said the State Government should discuss with their federal counterparts as to how Sabah could benefit from the special dividend.

“I hope the State Government will receive a portion of the special dividend, given that Sabah now produces 50 percent of national oil output.”

He added that this is a golden opportunity for Sabah to negotiate a share of the dividend, aside from the five percent oil royalty the State receive all the while.

Masidi raised this when debating the State Budget 2019 at the State Legislative Assembly sitting yesterday.

He also proposed for the 50-50 split of the tourism tax between the Federal and State Governments to be suspended for three years in order for Sabah to keep 100 percent of the tax revenue to build up the resilience of the tourism industry.

Masidi, who was former Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, also stressed on the need to formulate a threeyear marketing plan to increase domestic tourism arrivals to be financed by the tourism tax.

He cautioned on the over reliance of Chinese tourists for Sabah.

“As Chinese tourists become more prosperous, they are moving further away from China to countries such as United States or Africa. And, we end up with the lower-end tourists.”

Hence, Masidi emphasized on the need to focus on domestic tourists to ensure the sustainability of the tourism industry.

He reckoned the next three years was crucial as the trade war between China and the United States would eventually affect us.

“We need to build up resilience of the tourism industry.”