ROBUST ECONOMIC POLICIES ARE NEEDED TO UPLIFT PEOPLE'S WELLBEING - SICA

12 JAN 2021

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Independent Candidates Alliance (SICA) has implored the State Government to put its heart and mind to roll out new, feasible and robust economic policies to revitalise Sabah’s economy and uplift the people’s wellbeing.

It underscored that this is crucial and necessary in order to resuscitate and stimulate the state economy, which has been in doldrums for the last few years and has become worse when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

In its joint 2021 New Year message issued today, it hopes that the State government through its soon-to-be-unveiled ‘Sabah Maju Jaya 5-year Development Plan’, could better focus on tackling various fundamental pressing issues and underlying factors which prevented the state from achieving its full potential, besides fulfilling the people’s aspirations for a better life and better future for their children.

“First-and-foremost, we hope the present Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) State government will put in place an effective-and-comprehensive energy master plan to better improve its existing water and power supply.

"It is an undeniable fact that besides having sound security, reliable infrastructures like highways, airports, seaports and cheaper utility supply have always been the primary concern and consideration for investors to come in to invest in a country.

“Surveys and feedback received by SICA from the business sector in the state, over the last few months, has indicated that both domestic and foreign investors were sceptical and reluctant to invest in Sabah, mainly due to its unreliable water and power supply, besides unfavourable investment policies and taxation which contributed to high cost of doing business,” it said.

It asserted that only when major businesses and investors find it attractive and secure to invest in Sabah that the state economy will grow steadily and soar to a greater height, in due course.

“The state government should roll out plans which are conducive for development of a high-impact economy that would better attract, retain and produce talents for the state, which would essentially help transform Sabah into a high-income society.

"It should also strive to bring down the cost of living in Sabah which is ridiculously high to a vast majority of ordinary people and is especially posing a huge financial burden to those in the B40 category. There’s a popular saying among the people that: “Everything is so expensive in Sabah, except for the wages,” it added.

Touching on power generation, SICA proposed the State government to look towards green renewable energy which it reckoned is the right way forward.

“Many leading researches conducted in recent years have shown that in the long run, renewable energy is more cost-effective than non-renewable energy, besides being sustainable and environmentally-friendly.

“Sabah geographic position also gives it an added advantage to harness renewable energy from such natural sources like solar, hydro, wind and geothermal.” it pointed out.

SICA also proposed the State government to better capitalise on Sabah’s strategic geographic position and its beautiful natural attributes, to better promote the state as a “hub for a second home” or the MM2H (Malaysia My 2nd Home) program.

It believes this is also one way of attracting foreign investors and talents to come and live in Sabah, and indirectly help boost the state economy.

It also opined that, besides promoting Sabah as a premier tourist destination, the State government through the relevant authorities should also strive to turn Sabah into a premier location for filming of international blockbuster movies, TV entertainment and reality shows, etc, which would essentially help build the gig economy and other spinoff industries and generate jobs for the people.

“The existence of a sizable Chinese community in Sabah with their well-preserved Chinese culture and traditions, and well-established historical and ancestral relations with China, certainly gives Sabah an edge to take advantage of China’s huge and rapidly-growing film industry and box office. In fact, Sabah has some significant historical events which can be made into blockbuster movies that would appeal to the Chinese audience, worldwide,” it said.

According to SICA, last year, China surpassed the United States of America for movie ticket sales for the first time, making it the world’s biggest film box office. Sales (up to October 2020) have reached USD 1.98 billion, exceeding the US total of USD 1.9 billion. In 2018, the US film entertainment revenue worldwide was a staggering USD 32.23 billion.

“SICA also called on the State government to make full use of this temporary setback in the tourism sector due to Covid-19 to better improve the tourism infrastructure and amenities in the state, so as to better receive our guests and visitors, when the Covid-19 pandemic is well under control, after vaccination,” it urged.

It also reminded the State government to step up effort to better tap into Sabah’s vast potential as an agriculture and food hub, by introducing efficient agricultural policies, and the use of modern sciences and technologies, to boost agriculture production.

It especially hoped that the Sabah Economic Advisory Council (SEAC) which was established late last year, after the GRS coalition government came into power, could contribute effectively towards transforming Sabah into a robust economic and professional centre on the Borneo island.

“We believe its group of learned-and-capable advisors would be able to better capture and refine our ideas and proposals, amongst other propositions,” SICA said.

SICA is an ad-hoc five-member grouping which was formed during the 16th Sabah state election held on 26 September, last year. Its members include former Luyang assemblywoman and former State Assistant Finance Minister Melanie Chia, Achmad Noorasyrul Noortaip who is a social entrepreneur, architect Sim Sie Hong, Chin Ling Ling an accountant, and Jan Chow Yee Fah who is a social activist. SICA is committed to the agenda of uplifting the socio-economic wellbeing of Sabahans and building a civil society.