SABAH TODAY

SABAHTODAY
KOTA KINABALU: Phoong Jin Zhe believes that to revive the economy of Sabah, the government should invest more on infrastructure development projects.

Taking for example during the great recession in America 1930s, the then President Roosevelt proposed the new deal that the government invested more into infrastructure development to stimulate the economy to recover rapidly.

The DAP Luyang State Assemblyman said investing a big amount to combat the pandemic can indeed relieve economic pressure of general public for short term now but the largest budget ever has not been able to prove to be beneficial for Sabah in the long run.

“Sabah as the state that has suffered the most from the pandemic will face challenges to get out of the economic crisis comparing to other states if the government do not allocate more resources to develop Sabah,” he said in a statement Saturday.

On development expenditure wise, Pakatan Harapan increased development fundings from RM4 billion to RM5.2 billion for Sabah. However, in this budget, Sabah has only been allocated a total of RM5.1 billion development allocation and no major infrastructure projects for Sabah is surprising and disappointing at the same time.

Other than Pan Borneo highway project, we do not seem to see any new mega projects introduced in Sabah. There will be a new BRT project in Johor but yet Kota Kinabalu is still waiting.

In 2015, the former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has announced that the BRT will be built in Kota Kinabalu but it is nowhere to be found today.

Despite not having major infrastructure projects for Sabah, the government has also slashed development allocations for Sabah. For example, Federal Public Works Department’s allocation for Sabah’s major road has been slashed from RM60 million in 2020 to only RM100 in 2021.

Maintenance and upgrading of roads allocations has been cut from RM210 million in 2020 to RM 32 million in 2021. The allocation to building new roads was RM100 million in 2020 but it has been reduced to RM34 million in 2021.

Perikatan Nasional has been saying that voting for PN during the 16th Sabah State Election would bring greater developments for Sabah but is it true now?

“In my opinion, the Minister of Works for Sabah cum Member of Parliament for Kinabatangan, Datuk Bung Moktar should raise this in the Parliament.” said Phoong.

Phoong recommends that the Prime Minister should allocate 30 percent of the RM 1 billion from “Special Project” under the Prime Minister Department for Sabah to stimulate development in Sabah, by having minor infrastructure projects in various districts would bring employment opportunities and economic recovery.

He however expressed satisfaction towards the RM150 million allocated for bus transformation as he has always been a public transport enthusiast. He hopes that the government would allocate more for Kota Kinabalu to assist local buses to be upgraded and achieve transformation.

He mentioned that the current bus system in Kota Kinabalu is not run effectively.

The bus facilities in Sabah are worn out, not only the government have to buy new and modern buses but also restructure bus routes and ensure bus companies are bounded by proper planning and arrangement.

This would ensure that Kota Kinabalu will have an efficient and effective public transportation system and he hopes that the government will implement the policy as soon as possible.

Lastly, Phoong expressed disappointment that recommendations raised by oppositions, Pakatan Harapan and MUDA was not included especially extending the loan moratorium period up to 6 months. It is only eligible to certain income groups.