Show how citizens gain from Sabah Maju Jaya, govt told

 

Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor launching the Sabah Maju Jaya open day in Kota Kinabalu on Jan 12, 2021.

KOTA KINABALU: An academic has called for clarity in the state’s explanation of how the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) development plan benefits ordinary citizens.

“Everybody seems to be in the dark about what has been achieved so far when it comes to SMJ, which just celebrated its first anniversary,” said Mohammed Raheezal Shah Abdul Karim of Sabah UiTM.

He told FMT it was apparent at a recent dialogue hosted by the Society Empowerment and Economic Development of Sabah (Seeds) that most of the participants could not put their finger on how Sabahans had gained from SMJ.

Participants in the dialogue included representatives from the government, NGOs and the business community.

Mohammed Raheezal Shah Abdul Karim.

“Nobody seems to know the parameters or indicators for success that the government has set and it’s difficult for an analyst like me to give my take on how successful the SMJ is after a year,” Raheezal said.

“I’m sure there is a lot of work still in progress since it’s only been a year, but that shouldn’t be an excuse for the government not to tell the public where it is with all these initiatives. Are they, for example, 10% or 20% completed?”

The SMJ plan represents one of the pledges that the ruling Sabah coalition made during the campaign for the 2020 state elections.

Its aim is to develop human capital and improve infrastructure and environmental sustainability. It focuses on the economic growth of the agricultural, industrial and tourism sectors.

In a speech celebrating SMJ’s anniversary on March 29, chief minister Hajiji Noor disclosed that there were more than 500 initiatives under the plan. He said the state had started implementing these development projects, but he did not elaborate.

Raheezal said the government had a tendency to use direct investments coming from overseas or the peninsula as a yardstick to demonstrate SMJ’s success, but these were not good indicators.

“What most people want to know is how they are benefiting personally from SMJ,” he said.

“What the government needs to do now is go to the micro level and try to tell the people that this plan is working and progressing based on such and such parameters. It has to explain what it has achieved so far.”

Firdausi Suffian.

Seeds deputy chairman Firdausi Suffian said the absence of key performance indicators (KPIs) for short, medium and long-term initiatives under the plan made it difficult to gauge the impact of the projects on the people.

“The communication and the KPIs must be there so you can show us where you are heading,” he said.

Firdausi said other hurdles that could undermine SMJ’s implementation included basic processes such as approvals of business permits and transfers of land.

Citing a 2020 World Bank Report titled “Doing Business in Malaysia”, he said it took 212 days just to get approval for construction permits.

Business leader Foo Ngee Kee said obstacles such as approval delays would deter potential investors from coming to Sabah.

He said this could be effectively addressed if the state expedited its plan to digitalise the state civil service.

“Our plans under the SMJ are great, but the way the implementation is done is not helping,” he added. - FMT