11MP projects in S’kan not yet implemented
SANDAKAN: None of infrastructure development projects in Sandakan proposed in the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP) have been implemented, said Sandakan member of parliament Vivien Wong.
She said the projects include the Sabah Arts College in Sandakan Education Hub, the upgrade of Sandakan’s sewage system and the Sabah East Coast power generator station.
“The government also did not announce any new project to replace the Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline project that was stopped. This has caused power supply problems in the East Coast of Sabah with insufficient power supply,” she said during the third Federal Budget Outlook 2020 presentation of the Economics Affairs Ministry in Parliament.
Wong added because of several unstable factors in the global plantation market, the Sandakan Palm Oil Industry Cluster had not been utilised very well.
She said this problem needs the attention of the Economic Affairs Ministry to propose effective measures so that these issues can be resolved.
Wong added that the ministry must also revitalize the economic development in Sabah and avoid making Sabah’s economy dependent on the palm oil market.
“Poverty in Sabah has reached eight percent, the highest in the country. Sabah needs the attention of the new government, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs must take positive action to solve this problem,” she said.
Wong also said Malaysia must take the opportunity to encourage the development of the Brunei Darussalam Indonesia-Malaysia- Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMPEAGA) following Indonesia’s plan to move its capital city to East Kalimantan.
She said that BIMP-EAGA has strong potential in economic development.
She said our country could take the opportunity to make Sabah a transportation and logistics hub as Sabah is in an ideal geographical location.
“East Asean consists of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, and about 1.6 million square kilometres in size with a population of about 60 million. It has huge market potential,” she said.
She also said that the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand
Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) and BIMP-EAGA have only received RM4 million in allocation under the Regional Cooperation Programme.
“This allocation fails to fulfill the needs of the market. Our country needs to recognise the potential of BIMP-EAGA as it could boost market economy and allocate more funds into supporting this development, especially to repair infrastructures in related areas,” she said.
She said statistics of Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA) showed that in 2018, Sabah’s main trading partners were Peninsular Malaysia, India, China and Australia.
“But, trade with Indonesia and Philippines, located just next to Sabah, did not even reach half of the trading volume with Australia. Kalimantan, Indonesia, is just next to Sabah, but we do not have good border transportation relationship; there is not even an immigration office and a quarantine building, nor even a ferry terminal,” she highlighted.
Wong said the limited transportation network had hindered the development of market and trading economy.