Hajiji thanks Putrajaya for reviving hill padi subsidy

 

Chief Minister Hajiji Noor (left) watching the tabling of the 2021 Budget at his office in Kota Kinabalu today. (CM Dept pic)

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor said today he is happy that the national budget for 2021 has given attention to Sabah’s needs.

Sabah had been allocated RM5.1 billion for infrastructure development apart from RM3.8 billion for the continuation of the Pan Borneo Highway project and other packages.

Hajiji was also elated to see the hill padi planting subsidy being revived with RM40 million allocated for next year.

It will benefit nearly 10,000 padi planters in Sabah working on an estimated 7,000ha of hill padi fields.

“This proves the federal government has Sabah’s interest close at heart,” he said in a statement here today in which he also expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz.

Among other allocations for Sabah are:

• RM1,000 additional special grant for traders, which would also be extended to taxi drivers, e-hailing, hired cars and tour guides in Sabah to help cushion the dip in tourist arrivals;
• Mobile bank service to be extended to Sabah to facilitate distribution of government assistance to the rural folk;
• RM41 million for the native customary rights programme in order to preserve native rights in Sabah; and
• RM100 million for regional investment authorities, including the Sabah Economic and Investment Authority

He expected Sabah’s security, especially at the Eastern Sabah Security Zone, to be boosted with the allocation of RM16 billion to the defence ministry and RM17 billion to the home ministry.

He said the Sabah government would work closely with its federal counterpart to ensure the national budget would be successfully implemented. - FMT