What good state-federal ties do for Sabah

Musa Aman (left) and Najib Razak. - Picture by Ille Tugimin

150,000 jobs, 32,400 ringgit average income and money-spinners for Sabahans

Thirty-one new projects worth 77.5 billion ringgit ($25.4 billion), 32,400 ringgit average income and 150,000 jobs that will bring 3.2m Sabahans into a high-income society. And this says Najib Razak, Malaysia’s prime minister, is the result of good relations between Sabah and Kuala Lumpur.

Najib paid tribute to chief mininister Musa Aman as he arrived in Kota Kinabalu on February 16 for a two-day visit to launch the 4.7-billion ringgit Sabah Ammonia and Urea plant at Sipitang and the open day of the Sabah Development Corridor.

He said his closed working relationship with Musa has resulted in his government bankrolling the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (Sedia) which has more than 63 billion ringgit of investments in tourism, oil and gas, palm oil, agricultural, education, logistics and manufacturing.

In eight years, Sabah will have a gross income of 110 billion ringgit which will give each Sabahan an average income of 32,400 ringgit. About 77.5 billion ringgit will come from the 31 projects known as entry point projects under Najib’s massive economic transformation programme. His government has targeted a yearly 9% economic growth for Sabah.

Nationally, income of each of the 28m Malaysians will average 48,000 ringgit by 2020. There will be 3.3m jobs.

Najib noted the zeal of Sabah entrepreneurs in carrying out multi-million-ringgit projects under the public-private partnership programme in which they are entitled to federal funding of 10% of their cost.

These are the Gleneagles Medical Centre, the integrated Jesselton Waterfront and Sabah International Convention Centre in Kota Kinabalu, the International Technology and Convention Centre in Penampang, the Dalit Bay Integrated Tourism Resort in Tuaran, the Sipadan Mangrove Resort and Sabah Green Energy which is building a geothermal power plant in Tawau.

The projects cost 5.1 billion ringgit and the federal government has given them about 500m ringgit as start-up fund. – Insight Sabah