Give Sabah right to marine export and income – IDS

KOTA KINABALU: The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) reveals an interesting finding on the fisheries sector following another round of survey on effect of Movement Control Order (MCO) to business sector in Sabah.

In a statement yesterday, IDS executive director Anthony Kiob said Sabah has been one of the highest contributors to the national fisheries sector for many years.

He said from the period 2012 to 2018, total marine fish landing averaged at 208,159.34 metric tonnes per year worth an estimated RM1 billion ringgit, which indicates that Sabah is one of the main hubs for fish landing and consumption in Malaysia.

“Unfortunately, although Sabah has one of the highest marine products’ landings in the country it has no control over the revenue from its marine product.

“The Fishery Act No. 317 (1985) gave the right to collect revenue for all marine products to the Federal Government while the State Government is only given the right for inland products such as fresh water and aquaculture product. This means loss of millions of revenue for the state,” he said.

Anthony said the situation was made worse when an export ban on marine products alive, dead, or fresh was enforced in 2016.

“Since 2016, a temporary periodic four-month export ban has been imposed in Sabah for selective marine products dubbed as “rakyat fishes”. The move is said to ensure sufficient local supplies for the festive seasons, but the state has consistently achieved surplus in self-sufficiency level.

“The ban was enforced arising from a report from the Lembaga Kemajuan Ikan Malaysia (LKIM) Sabah which indicates a drop in fish landing in the state which was not really the case.”

Anthony further elaborated that the export ban has affected about 20 companies in Sabah with a total export volume estimated at 130,000 tonnes worth some RM800 Million.

Since the implementation of the Act, he said Sabah’s government lost millions of possible income as it was unable to receive percentage of profit from these companies through taxes.

“The Sabah fisheries sectors continue to contribute revenue of RM700 to RM800 million annually which currently go directly to the Federal government through LKIM.

“Looking at the Sabah’s fisheries contribution to the national economy, it is high time Sabah is given the right to control its marine export and marine income. This is after all is in accordance to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),” said Anthony.

He stated that under MA63, Sabah has the respective rights over fisheries within the 200 nautical miles of the Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ) of the Coastal Borneo States of Sabah and Sarawak (CSOSS).

“The Fisheries Act 1985 is only applicable to the states of Malaya not to the Exclusive Economic Zone on the CSOSS. Sabah and Sarawak need to rectify this overlapping concern to revert to doing business as provided for under the MA63.”

On IDS survey in relations to effect of the MCO to the fisheries sector, IDS received about 44.4 percent feedback from the players in the fisheries sector in Sabah, said Anthony.

He said respondents lamented that their income had declined by 50 percent because of the MCO and this was made worst by the lack of cash flow for their business due to the decline in demand from both local and international consumers.

Boat owners also mentioned that their fish stock had increased as they were unable to sell their catch due to halting demand. Most of their fish catch were being turned into fertilizers and dried fish to minimise loses.

“Based on respondents who provided a response, our survey reveals that an estimated 96.8 percent of staff have taken a ‘pay cut’, whereas 2.8 percent have been laid off during the MCO.

“Apparently, no staff were given unpaid leave. As for their crucial needs that require government’s assistance, 42.1 percent of respondents indicate ‘payroll’ as their most urgent needs, followed by ‘loan’ (36.8%) and ‘fish feed and fertilizer’ (10.5%),” he said.

In relation to assistance from the stimulus package provided by the government, Anthony said almost all of the respondents had received various government’s stimulus package to support their businesses.

He said a large proportion of the respondents had utilised ‘tax exemption and deferments’ (33.3%), followed by 15 percent discount on monthly utility bills and bank moratorium (both 16.7%). There were respondents who claimed that they had yet to receive any relief benefits or still waiting for approval (11.1%).

“When asked whether the government stimulus package could help ease their financial burden, 50 percent of the respondents are unsure, whereas 33.3 percent are optimistic and another 16.7 percent are pessimistic that the packages will be helpful for their business.

“Some of the suggestions put forward by the respondents to improve the stimulus package include provision of soft loan with zero interest rate by the state government; more subsidy and levy for foreign workers; tax exemption for the industry; exercise state executive power by taking back fuel subsidies; and simplify as well as speed up the approval of the bank’s Special Relief Facility application,” he said.