Kuala Lumpur: The Federal Government is urged to implement the terms of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) by returning the 40 per cent revenue collected from Sabah as enshrined in the Federal Constitution to finance cost of developing necessary infrastructure.
Senator Datuk Noraini Idris said Sabahans hope the Federal would fulfil and honour its “Aku Janji” pledge so that basic infrastructure problems that are affecting their daily lives, could be tackled.
She cited the water problems faced by the people of Sabah not only in rural areas but also urban areas such as Kota Kinabalu, Sepanggar and Sandakan.
“The Federal Government has announced a fund of RM320 Million for Sabah in June this year as a long-term solution to the high-impact water supply in Sabah, but until now the announced funds have not yet been received by the State government.
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She hoped the RM4 billion Tenom hydroelectric dam in Ulu Padas, Tenom which starts construction in October, and to be completed in 2027, and another project in Papar would resolve the longstanding water issue.
She said the State Government had drafted a Sabah Electricity Generation Development Plan (2023-2027) that was formulated by the Energy Commission of Sabah (ECoS) to solve the critical shortage of power generation capacity in Sabah.
“With the good news announced by the Prime Minister last Monday, the handing over of electricity supervision powers is expected to be finalised by January, will enable the Sabah Government to regulate the supply of gas and electricity based on interests and needs.
“However, at this point, what are the constraints that still need to be refined to launch this distribution of power and further to ensure the ability of the State Government to continue the distribution of electricity subsidies?,” she asked.
Noraini thanked the Prime Minister for announcing recently that more dilapidated school buildings would be rebuilt in Sabah.
However, she hoped the Education Ministry would also resolve water and electricity problems in these dilapidated schools in Sabah.
“Collect data on schools in Sabah that require allocations to complete science laboratories with equipment and upgrade existing ones in order to effectively and efficiently implement STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
“This could increase students’ interest and competitiveness in science and technology,” she said.
Noraini said re-establishment of the Sabah Rice Board is expected to increase the self-sufficiency Level (SSL) of the State’s rice.
“The paddy and rice industry in Sabah has declined to the lowest level since the 1980s with the level of self-sufficiency only at 22.81 per cent in 2020.
“Currently, Sabah’s rice SSL rate is only 22 per cent.
“This means Sabah can only meet 22 per cent of local demand, and the rest has to be imported from China, Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan (78pc).
“The decline in rice SSL is parallel to the decline in Sabah rice production. During the period 2018 – 2021, rice production decreased from 77,099 tons (2018) to 70,407 tons (2021).
“This obviously will threaten food security in Sabah especially when there is a crisis of rising rice prices at this time.
“We welcome the efforts of YB Minister of Agriculture and Food Security who is willing to discuss large-scale rice cultivation in Sabah.
“It is certain that Sabah has a large area with the potential to be developed as a large-scale rice cultivation area.
“I would also like to know to what extent is the commitment and readiness of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in making this effort a success with Mardi’s joint venture for example,” she said.
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