Not taking Kimanis by-election lightly: Shafie
Published on: Friday, December 06, 2019
By: Sherell Jeffrey
Shafie at the press conference after returning from Japan yesterday.
Kota Kinabalu: Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said his 33 years in politics has taught him never to take things lightly.Commenting on the upcoming Kimanis parliamentary by election, he said, although he cannot single out anyone who might pose a tough competition, he would not take it lightly.
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“In life we cannot be too confident and too proud. We must secure a win and reach as many voters as possible in the area.
“Whoever they are, we just have to work harder to make sure we can realise it,” he said, adding that they are still looking into names to field in the by-election.
“We will decide when the time comes. We have yet to know the date of the by-election. We have to prepare ourselves for the time being. But we have already prepared since the first court case.
On whether it would be a Warisan candidate, he said: “I do hope but I think an understanding has been there. It was us who brought the case to court.
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“What is important is the candidate must be likeable to voters on the ground and can perform.”
The Federal Court on Monday upheld the decision of the election court that declared the Kimanis parliamentary constituency election, which was won by former foreign minister Anifah Aman, as null and void.
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Anifah, a former Umno member, won the Kimanis seat by a slender margin of 156 votes, obtaining 11,942 votes while Karim Bujang, who represented Warisan, garnered 11,786 votes.
Sabah Umno has said it would be fielding a candidate and hoped that fellow Barisan Nasional component Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) would come to an understanding on not fielding a candidate. Sabah Umno Chief Datuk Bung Moktar radin said the party would emulate Tanjung Piai, referring to the recent by-election in Johor in which BN’s MCA candidate won by a shock 15,000 majority.
Meanwhile, Shafie said his just-ended investment mission to Japan has been a fruitful for the State after China and Kalimantan.
This time around, not only has the Government sealed a deal with a Tokyo-based company which would see a RM100 million investment in biomass energy use being realised, but also possible investments in the automotive and furniture sectors, etc.
“Several initiatives have been discussed and we will follow up with efforts to realise this,” he said, upon arrival, Thursday. The five-day trip saw Shafie and his delegates visiting and meeting with some 15 companies in five cities in Japan.
The trip also involved three seminars in which Shafie explained how the State Government can implement best policies to ensure that investment in Sabah is beneficial and sustainable.
This includes amendment to the enactment which allows approval to be granted within 24 hours provided that investors have fulfilled some of the considerations such as complying with the Environmental Impact Assessment, etc.
Shafie noted there would be a time frame where they (investors) need to realise the development at a particular initiative of building up the industry.
“We don’t want to them to keep the approval for long, like say 10 to 12 years and we don’t see any industry. There must be a time frame for the approval to be granted if we need to encourage many more industries coming in.”
He also noted that the Japanese investors are quite well versed about the environment in Malaysia, particularly Sabah which is nearer to Japan.
“I think most of them, during our discussion, they know the State quite well. Some have visited Sabah many times not only to play golf, but as tourists with their families,” he said.
He also said they (investors) seem quite receptive going to Malaysia especially knowing that the nation is one of the most competitive in the world which has been ranked 12 by World Bank.
He is confident Sabah, particularly Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) has sufficient power and water supply to accommodate investments on the west coast.
As for the east coast, he said water supply in Palm Oil Industry Cluster (POIC) is also not much of a problem and efforts in providing sufficient power supply in such areas is being made to assist investors.
Coming back to the investment agreement with the Tokyo-based company, Blue Capital Management Co. Ltd, he said it would not only provide significant boost to the State’s economy through oil industry but also create employment opportunities.
He said if Sabah can boost the use of oil palm, then the obstacles from the European market, for example, can be overcome. “We might even be able to market not only to Japan but also western countries because we comply by the international requirements.”Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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