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KOTA KINABALU – The prospects of Sabah tapping into the relocation of Indonesia’s capital city to East Kalimantan is currently hampered by the lack of major infrastructure.
As such, former Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia pinned the blame on Sabah and the federal government for failing to facilitate better connectivity between Sabah and Nusantara, the new capital city of Indonesia, earlier.
He said the governments should start thinking out of the box, while pointing out that the Indonesian government has done its part in improving connectivity.
“The role of the government is to be a facilitator to these potentials as the engine of economic growth is the private sector.
“The private sector knows what it should be doing. But what remains now is the role of the government, which is to make it easy for them to do business.
“So, we need to build the infrastructure to facilitate them… Unfortunately, this is the problem of Sabah and Putrajaya.
“They need to start thinking outside of the box,” he said in an online forum organised by the Wisdom Foundation last night.
Pandikar said that if it is apparent that Putrajaya is without funds, the federal government should allow Sabah to raise its own funds elsewhere.
He said the relocation of Indonesia’s capital city from Jakarta to East Kalimantan is a viable project which many financial institutions are willing to invest in if Sabah is allowed to raise its own funds.
“Kalimantan will be a thriving capital and if the government does not see this, I think all should stop talking nonsense and start working.
“Our role is to implement the infrastructure,” he said.
Kalimantan, Malaysia’s Sabah and Sarawak, and Brunei make up the Borneo Island. – The Vibes, March 16, 2022
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