Warisan Harta inks MoUs with three firms

KOTA KINABALU: Warisan Harta Sabah Sdn Bhd (Whssb) yesterday signed Memoranda of Understanding with three companies namely Epost, Gemilang Coachworks Sdn Bhd and Go Auto Group.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Chairman of Whssb Datuk Seri Salleh Said and its Executive Director Mohd Shukor Abdul Mumin.

With the collaboration with Epost, Kojasa Holdings Berhad, which is under Whssb, will be setting up Kojasa Mart and rebranding the retail brand as one of the most affordable digital grocery store in town.

And with the goal to achieve the aspiration of Sabah Maju Jaya, Whssb envisioned the same ambition to further develop the state particularly on the transportation sector as quality public transportation has the power to bridge gaps in social and economic mobility.

Whssb CEO Ahmad Rizal Dahli and its Company Secretary Noor Afzalinah Afzul signed a MoU with the managing director of Gemilang Coachworks Sdn Bhd, Pang Chong Yong.

This will be the first step towards advancement in the transportation industry and Whssb will be exploring the possibilities of bringing the manufacturing activities, electric bus services and the set up of bus rapid transit (BRT) system in greater Kota Kinabalu city.

Ahmad Rizal and Noor Afzalinah also signed another MoU with Go Auto Group Executive Chairman Datuk SM Azli Nasimuddin Kamal and Group Executive Director Farok Maasom to explore the possibility of automotive and defence manufacturing plant in Sabah.

Salleh in his speech said this will change the whole economic landscape and indirectly act as a catalyst to the new economic growth especially in Bimp-EAGA zone.

“We will be creating more and better quality jobs to boost growth, reduce poverty and enhance social unity,” he said, adding, “this is our aspiration, to move forward into an exciting future of development and economic growth for our beloved Sabah."

Speaking to reporters later, Salleh said the aim for the collaborations was to expand Whssb’s business.

“Firstly we hope it will bring revenue to Whssb, secondly it will provide economic and business opportunities to Sabahans. On the development with Kojasa, I want to stress that we want to revive Kojasa but need to take into consideration the latest development.

“So we work together with Epost which is a Sabahan owned company. Online facility is important to business nowadays and Epost has an effective platform,” he said.

Kojasa Mart, he said would reduce middlemen as the supplier and this will make the price of goods and products sold lower.

It will also provide room for local products to be marketed because through Epost, with an established as well as good networking, we can also market our local products outside the state and country, he said.

On the MoU with Go Auto, Salleh said it will be a collaboration on a vehicle assembly plant in KKIP.

According to him, Sabah had a vehicle assembly plant in the past which provided a lot of jobs for locals.

“This is why we want to revive this industry and the assembly plant once operational, will provide about 500 job opportunities for locals,” he added.

The third MoU Salleh said, was between Whssb and Johor based company Gemilang Coachworks Sdn Bhd which supplies electric buses.

The company has supplied the environmentally friendly buses to Kuching, Sarawak and the Sabah Government said Salleh, will be working with Gemilang Coachworks Sdn Bhd to set up a more comfortable public transport which is also environmentally friendly.

“There are other efforts in the works, actually we have been exploring business opportunities and the main purpose is to ensure that we will create jobs and economic opportunities for Sabahans especially the youngsters.

“We must look post Covid19 and plan for the future, we have to move on. To get out of the Covid-19 pandemic is one of the things we have to do but we have to see how we can make sure Whssb that is 100 per cent owned by the Government, expedite business ventures which will create jobs for the people of Sabah.

“I have briefed the Chief Minister on our plan and he is very supportive of what we are doing,” Salleh said.