Economist: Encourage local manufacturing to address high cost
KOTA KINABALU: The state government should encourage local entrepreneurs to invest in the manufacturing sector to produce affordable consumer products of reasonably good quality as one way of addressing the high cost of living in the state brought about by the National Cabotage Policy (NCP).
Proposing this, Kota Kinabalu-based economist cum legal consultant, Jeremiah Yee, said this could be done by providing local entrepreneurs with the necessary infrastructure and incentives for such ventures, which in turn would also provide gainful employment opportunities to thousands of local people and eventually transfer knowledge and technology.
“The people of Sabah cannot continue to rely solely on products from overseas or Malaya forever; is it any wonder why after 52 years, we still do not have factories producing even a simple toothbrush?
“Start off with affordable and good quality consumer products like toiletries, kitchenware, or apparel, for instance, to crank up the process before advancing into other products that are also utilized daily. And don’t forget the fact that Sabah is the largest palm oil producer in the country, and as we all know, palm oil can be processed to produce a wide variety of consumer products.
“And in the meantime, while the manufacturing sector is maturing and picking up momentum, the government of Sabah can perhaps direct some of the vessels in the fleet of the Sabah Foundation Shipping Group to ship goods from Port Klang to Sabah to help cushion the impact of the price differential of the same merchandise, instead of just concentrating on transporting oil and gas, timber, and chemicals,” he suggested.
He pointed out that among the main objectives for the establishment of Sabah Foundation, as stipulated in the Sabah Foundation Enactment 1966, is “to assist and improve, whenever possible, the standard of living of poor Malaysian citizens residing in Sabah”.
According to its official website, under its Shipping Group of Companies, Sabah Foundation currently has three shipping companies, namely, Yayasan Sabah Shipping Sdn Bhd, Safond Shipping Sdn Bhd, and Yayasan Sabah Dua Shipping Sdn Bhd, and they are actively involved in the international maritime trade, both in the chemical products sector as well as in the offshore support vessels’ services for the local oil and gas industry.
Yee thus opined that the commissioning of some of the vessels in the fleet of the Sabah Foundation Shipping Group to ship essential consumer goods from Port Klang to Sabah would be one way for the present state administration to cushion the impact of escalating prices of goods.
In his latest comment issued here yesterday, Yee said he felt compelled to suggest this in view of the fact that the general population of Sabah, especially those in the lowerincome bracket, were being increasingly affected by the ever-increasing prices of consumer goods, especially since the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
He also opined that his proposals were more practical and beneficial to the state in the long run, instead of continuing to demand for the abolishment of the NCP which, he doubts the federal government would want to risk offending the shipping cartel.
“The word ‘cabotage’ means the right to operate sea, air, and other mode of transportation or haulage services within a particular country. However when abused, it usually restricts the operation of such services creating an unhealthy monopoly by cartels with the sole purpose of maximising profits through the prevention of competition.
“It is a known fact that in Sabah, everything consumable or otherwise that is from overseas must first be shipped to Port Klang in Malaya and then from there onwards to here although its port of origin, say, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Japan or elsewhere across the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean is nearer to our port at Sepanggar Bay. This unnecessary process of rerouting adds up the final cost of the products which has been a bane to the people of Sabah,” he said.