THE Sabah Labour Department has to be reinstated to administer and implement the Sabah Labour Ordinance as one of the means to address labour shortages in the State.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said during the engagements of various stakeholders by the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers and Undocumented Migrants, one of the causes of labour shortage in Sabah was attributed to the approval processes carried out by the federal authorities from Putrajaya.
Dr Jeffrey said he is advised that based on a study by the East Malaysia Planters Association, the labour shortage has caused losses to the oil palm industry arising from fruits not harvested.
“This, in turn, has caused the Government to lose about RM400-RM500 million annually from the oil palm fruits levy,” said Dr Jeffrey, who is also Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister, in his keynote address at the forum on Labour Shortages in Sabah: Foreign Workers Issue, organised by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) Sabah in Kota Kinabalu on Mar 21.
“It is pertinent to reinstate the Sabah Labour Department to administer and implement the Sabah Labour Ordinance.
“It is envisaged that this Department will replace the present Jabatan Tenaga Kerja Negeri Sabah, which is under the purview of the Federal Government.
“The move is anticipated to make the approval process of foreign workers more efficient with a better understanding of the local circumstances by the local Department,” he said.
“Incidentally, to make the oil palm industry better managed and administered, the State Government is in the process of setting up the Sabah Oil Palm Industry Authority (Sopia) to replace the Sabah arm of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB),” he added.
Earlier in his speech, Dr Jeffrey said Sabah’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is currently about RM29,960, which is slightly more than half of the national GDP of RM47,439, and far behind the top GDP of RM111,292 in Kuala Lumpur.
“We have the ignominious record of having eight of the 10 poorest districts in Malaysia despite our wealth of oil and gas, and plenty of other natural resources.
“To achieve the national GDP, Sabah’s economy needs to grow by RM69.912 billion based on a population of four million,” he said.
He said Sabah is facing a serious labour shortage, particularly in the agriculture, oil palm and construction sectors.
“To achieve and sustain our economic growth, Sabah needs more than the fulfilment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Number 8, which is to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.
“Not only do we need to resolve our labour shortage, but we also need to develop our human capital to international standards with the necessary skills, innovative technology and mindset,” he said.
He said Sabah is serious about tackling the labour shortage and human capital development is one of the focused enablers of the Sabah Maju Jaya Development Plan 1.0 (2021-2025).
“Rest assured, the State Government will not let our economic growth be constrained or stifled by the lack of manpower, whether in quality or in quantity.
“We are aware of the developments happening and being planned in and around this region.
“We are working on the way forward for the labour force market in Sabah to assist our plantations and industries and to grow our economy.
“We are also working on new revenue sources like nature conservation and carbon credit, to drive our economy further,” he said.
“This is imperative as we must take stock of the labour market environment in Sabah to understand our strengths and weaknesses.”
In his closing remarks, he said: “We can only forge our future if we seize the opportunity and be bold in our approaches to solve our own problems.”
“We cannot expect outsiders to help solve our problems,” he said referring to those in the Federal.
He said in recent years, he has seen a rising sentiment among the people in Sabah to come forward and stand up for Sabah’s development and future and shape her own destiny.
“It is encouraging and I see Sabah being developed in the near future and developing its true potential, in Sabah’s own way,” he said.
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