‘Sabah tourism must tap on RM2 bil fund’

Meanwhile Sabah and Sarawakian federal ministers lauded the allocations for railways upgrades and treated water under the Budget2014

KOTA KINABALU: Tourism players in Sabah have been urged to take advantage of the RM2 billion special tourism infrastructure fund announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in the Budget 2014 yesterday evening.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun expressing his enthusiasm about the fund, said stakeholders should for instance, think about building four or five-star hotels in Kota Kinabalu where there was a growing demand.

“I recently met with hotel operators and was informed that the hotel occupancy rate in Kota Kinabalu is 92 per cent and among the highest in Malaysia. This shows that we do not have enough hotels.

“We received a lot of tourists particularly from China this year but the challenge now is we don’t have enough four or five-star hotels and resort hotels,” he told reporters while commenting on the budget 2014 at the Sabah Chief Minister’s official residence in Sri Gaya here.

Meanwhile, members of parliament from Sabah and Sarawak viewed the budget as an acknowledgment of the demands of the people who had supported the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 13th general election.

Works minister Fadillah Yusof who is also Petra Jaya MP citing road and railway developments for Sarawak said they had been much awaited by the people to bridge the urban and rural areas.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri who is also Batang Sadong MP said the people would surely appreciate the RM75 million allocation for the provision of treated water supply.

Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan who is also Kota Belud MP described the budget 2014 as a budget in keeping with the BN’s promises made in the last general election.

-Bernama