It was a year of “big announcements without big results” as the business community continued to be plagued by depressed conditions that many say can be traced to the handover of the island by the Berjaya state government to federal in 1984.
The year started a bright note when newly appointed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on a visit to Kota Kinabalu acknowledged the sluggish Labuan economy and that the island would be rejuvenated with the help of the Sabah Government.
Labuan’s economy took a further blow when its colonial era duty-free privileges were curtailed for cigarettes and liquor.
Especially when Customs implemented the rule of restricting purchase of duty-free beer by visitors to only four cans compared to one crate (24 cans) previously.