Jeffrey: Sabah Development Corridor failing

Unemployment rate high despite grandoise promises of jobs under the 18-year plan which began in 2009.

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) has failed to bring much benefit to the unemployed in the state, according to the United Borneo Front (UBF).

UBF chief Jeffrey Kitingan said the failure is evident from high unemployment rate in the state despite a promise that close to a million jobs would be created through the SDC.

He said SDC’s 18-year plan, from 2009 to 2026, at a totalcost of RM105 billion should provide on average 50,000 jobs at an investment of RM5.8 billion annually.

Jeffrey cited a recent controversy where 578 teachers have been made to wait for ‘ministerial directions’ after their contracts ended last year despite a shortage of teachers in the state.

He said the state government should not pass the buck to the Ministry of Education when it had previously, through the SDC, pledge that more jobs would be available in the state.

“These figures seem incredible and almost impossible yet the state government made these promises, set up the Sabah Development Corridor, and entrusted the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (Sedia) as a one stop authority to drive the SDC.

“Either something is seriously wrong in the financial machinery of the Sabah government or they deliberately made promises they could never keep,” said Jeffrey.

He said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak should look into this matter seriously as it reflected badly on the entire nation. Jeffrey also questioned the lack of data on unemployment in Sabah.

He said with all the SDC projects and tenders, it would be interesting to know how far Sedia had kept its promise of enhancing the quality of life of the people by accelerating the growth of Sabah’s economy.

Effective policies needed

He noted that the 2009 data showed that with over 1.3 million people in the Sabah labour force, the participation rate was at 65.6% and the unemployment rate stood at 6.1%.

“We must stop thinking that the federal government owes this state a 100% responsibility to accommodate the needs of Sabahans as that will prove that the state government is nothing more than a federal proxy.

“If we have the money as promised by SDC to accommodate employment needs in the state, it should have by now identified new industries to create job opportunities and maximise local human capital.

“The government must not make references to developments and investments made by the private sector as if it was their own. They have to come up with their own initiative and create 50,000 jobs annually as promised by the SDC,” he said.

Jeffrey said it was pointless to complain about the disparities between local and west Malaysian teachers in terms of pay, allowances and perks as nothing had changed in the attitude of the federal and state governments in dealing with the issue over 47 years.

He said that what has happened is that the government has allowed for a greater division even between teachers in west and east.

“It is important to realise that the state education department, the ministry of education and public service department have stuck with policies which basically don’t work.

“It boils down to attitude. They have not gone to the ground to implement effective policies which would work.

“The only thing we can do is look at our state coffers and responsibly invest as so nobly promised in the SDC blueprint.

“Be an economically responsible government and keep those promises.

Don’t just enrich a few,” he advised.

Jeffrey said UBF would be invited to discuss the state of Sabah’s economy at a planned inter-party dialogue and leadership seminar on March 5. - FMT