Let’s see where the RM4 billion goes

Chief Minister Musa Aman's RM4 billion state budget for 2012 is a tired replay of unkept past promises.

KENINGAU: While Chief Minister Musa Aman’s RM4 billion Sabah budget for 2012 may be getting rave reviews from ‘certain’ quarters, United Borneo Front however can only see the huge chasm between ‘what is planned and what is delivered’ by the ruling Umno-led Barisan Nasional government.

A senior leader with UBF Dr Nicholas James Guntobon views the RM4 billion state budget for 2012 as ‘window dressing’ and tired replay of Musa’s past promises and pledges.

In playing down the grand talk that the state budget received when it was unveiled by Musa last Friday, Guntobon, who is UBF coordinator for Liawan, Keningau, said yesterday that a thorough examination of Sabah’s past budgets showed that the “ruling BN has no policy on economic development”.

“Performance-wise, the economy boom in Sabah is actually driven by the high price of commodity, nothing to do with the efficiency and leadership of the current CM.

“The high rating by RAM, the auditor-general and the ISO certificate are all not conclusive evidence of excellent performance whatsoever.

“Rating agencies are known for their unreliability,” he said alluding to the 3-star RAM rating of Sabah’s economic perfromance.

He reminded that even US-based rating agency Moody gave global financial services firm, Lehman Brothers, top marks but it was declared bankrupt in 2008.

“RAM, unlike Moody is locally-based, run and perhaps even financed through domestic consultancy contracts and if we dare go deeper possibly we will find out that its pay is derived from taxpayers money by cronies and relatives of those in power.”

Guntobon credits the 4% economic growth in Sabah to government spending through federal stimulus packages as well as the high commodity prices.

Why no foreign investments?

Musa, who is also Sabah Finance Minister, presented the state biggest ever budget with a promise to eradicate poverty, cut unemployment and further develop the state.

But according to Guntobon, Musa has been saying the same thing since winning the last elections and in presenting past budgets about how he is going to redistribute wealth from booming economy to all Sabahans.

“Sabah now is still the third poorest economically, the Umno cronies are getting richer and the number of poor people in Sabah remains the highest.

“They get poorer because prices of basic goods have increased with the fuel price hike. We can list out a long list of BN’s and this chief minister’s failures if necessary.

“The ruling BN has no policy on economic development and this speaks volumes why there is not much foreign direct investment,” he said.

Guntobon was referring to how state government industrialization projects such as the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) and the Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) in Lahad Datu are struggling to gain momentum.

“POIC is a failure … Lahad Datu where POIC is, is actually alive only due to palm oil plantations,” he said adding that the town along with much of the east coast of the state still lacks reliable power supply while illegal immigrants continue to flood the district.

“Almost 50 years after independence, Sabah’s main trade remains in raw commodities with low value-added making us vulnerable to economic boom-and-bust cycles.

“Our productivity is lower than Terengganu, which is now the third richest economy in Malaysia.

“Sabah is now occupying Terengganu’s position 48 years ago as the third poorest. Why has Terengganu improved but not Sabah? Can the CM explain?

“Where is the money going after it is generated here? Will the CM tell us how much is invested back in Sabah and how many job opportunities were given to the local people?” Guntobon asked.

Shift to green economy vital

He said people are aware that good economic leadership implies poverty eradication, a better standard of living and a reduction of crime including corruption “or when our GDP is driven by manufacturing like in Terengganu and Penang.”

Guntobon believes that even tourism, which should be Sabah’s strong point, needs to be heavily subsidized as it is neither economical nor nature-friendly.

“If left unchecked Sabah will end up like Thailand. Good economy leadership means we move to green manufacturing industry, so that we will not continue to consume natural resources or assets.

“Good economic leadership equals transparency in contracts and tender awards and where the public get the best medical attention without worrying about collapsing hospital buildings.

“Even Klinik 1Malaysia is no substitute to access to excellent health facilities,” said Guntobon, who is a medical doctor.

Communal title a ‘smoke screen’

In the meantime, he said, the spin-off effects from the booming real estate market is unlikely to continue as it is a bubble that is waiting to burst.

“This Umno-and-PBS-led government has also failed the people by not solving various cases of native customary rights (NCR) land across the state.

“The Communal Title introduced by Musa is nothing but a smoke screen used by a clever and rich magician,” he added.

Guntobon also pointed to the government’s efforts to build a coal-fired power plant in Lahad Datu which was finally shelved after protests and resulted in millions of ringgit in losses.

“I think after six months next year, Sabahans will start speculating where the RM4 billion actually goes,” Guntobon said.