Set up Native Land Foundation: Jeffrey
Published on: Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: The State government should consider the setting up of a Native Land Foundation or Yayasan Tanah Anak Negeri to preserve and defend NCR land and to help natives with NCR land problems, especially in terms of financial and land development.Bingkor Assemblyman Datuk Jeffrey Kitingan said as an additional step, the land usage category and the conditions set for Native Title lands must be expanded from only agriculture purposes to also include industry and commercial category."This will be able to maintain the customary land status without having to change it to CL or TL while, at the same time, increase the values of NCR and NT lands," he said when debating the 2016 State Budget at the State Legislative Assembly here, Tuesday.ADVERTISEMENT In fact, said Jeffrey, he had already discussed the matter with the Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and it seemed that Musa is favourable to the idea.He also urged the government to push the Federal government to fulfil its obligation under the 10th Schedule of the Federal Constitution which provides for Sabah's entitlement to 40 per cent of the revenue it collects in the State."I am glad we have more than RM3 billion to spend next year. But according to my calculation, if this requirement under the Constitution is fulfilled, we are entitled to receive more than RM20 billion for 2015 and 2016."This means that our 2016 State Budget should at least be between RM20 billion and RM25 billion," he said.ADVERTISEMENT He also highlighted the fact that, since 1973, the Federal government had failed to fulfil its obligation to Sabah with regards to the schedule and the arrears from 1974 to 2015, estimated to be more than RM200 billion, excluding interests."I am a member of a committee led by Kimanis MP and Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman to submit a memorandum to the Federal government on the Special Grant and other financial provisions owed to Sabah.
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"The committee also consists of two lawyers, Ansari Abdullah and constitutionalist Edmond Bon. We met with the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on July 15 this year where Najib gave his word that if it is true that the Special Grant is entrenched in the Federal Constitution, then it must be fulfilled," he said.Therefore, he added, although the Special Grant for Sabah was not included in the 2016 National Budget, it should be included in the State Budget since it is a requirement under the Constitution and Sabah has the right to receive it.Jeffrey also proposed that the government implements the 'One country two systems' policy that will see the controversial cabotage policy exempted for Sabah and Sarawak."If this is done, foreign vessels can bring their cargo from ports in Malaya into Sabah and Sarawak without any limitation and vice versa. Through this, they no longer need to unload their cargo meant for Sabah and Sarawak in Klang Port and they can also bring cargo from Klang Port to Sabah."This will give the foreign vessels incentives to dock in Sabah while at the same time, provide healthy competition to local vessels especially in reducing shipping rates," he said.He also urged the government to simplify and remove the limits or quota for licences to process CPO domestically instead of exporting them in order to encourage investment and spur growth of manufacturing industry in the State.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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He proposed that if the government is serious in transforming Kota Kinabalu into a shipping hub, the cabotage policy must be abolished for Sabah, saying that some of the benefits include reduced investment costs, reduced costs of living, encourage more industries and factories, increased job opportunities and provided healthy competitions for all sectors in the State."Therefore, Sabah's economy will receive the boost it needs and would improve our wealth significantly," he said.