Kota Kinabalu: Sabah ranked fifth highest in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) last year, not the lowest as claimed by an opposition Assemblyman, said State Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.
He said Selangor was at the top, followed by Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak, Johor and Sabah (fifth), while Penang sixth.
“So just to correct Sekong Assemblyman (Alias Sani), in terms of GDP, we are improving. It is true in terms of per capita income, we are indeed low, if I am not mistaken Sabah is the fourth lowest after Kedah. But in terms of GDP, we are improving,” he said during tabling the Supplementary Supply (2023) Enactment 2023 Bill in the State Assembly.
To a question from Alias on why when the allocation from the Federal Government is already there the State Government still need to have a supplementary budget, Masidi said Sabah is a big state that cannot be compared to some other states in the peninsula.
“Sabah has greater needs. And we should not be complaining that we are not progressing and at the same time when we increase the allocation, we also complain about it.
“We increased the allocation, like this supplementary budget, because we want to progress, there are various efforts and initiatives for us to progress.
“For example, the water supply as raised by almost all assemblymen, the Water Department was allocated the highest allocation in this supplementary budget because we know that water supply is our main problem,” he said.
Regarding the water problem at the Women and Children's Hospital (HWKK) in Likas that has been resolved but was still raised during the DUN sitting, Masidi said he was not speaking on behalf of the Works Ministry but that the problem was more technical.
“It is related to the problem we call balancing the pressure. For example, if the water supply pressure to Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is strong, HWKK will experience water supply problems because both institutions receive supply from the same pipeline.
“So it needs to be balanced. Cannot maximise water supply to UMS because it will affect water supply to HWKK. So it's more of a technical problem.
“Why is that? Because our water supply is lower than the demand and that is why we hope the Telibong 2 Project will be able to solve this problem,” he said.
Masidi also answered a question from Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Senallang) who asked why the State Government needed to spend RM9-RM10 million to buy land.
He said the purchase of lands using the said allocation is actually related to the Telibong 2 Project, which is meant to increase the production of treated water supply.
He said the Telibong 2 Project experienced some delay in implementation due to waiting for the construction of the Pan Borneo Highway to be complete.
“So, when it's time for us to install the pipes, we go through some areas of privately owned land. This is why we need to use the allocation of RM9-RM10 million.
“In fact, we should thank the Pan Borneo Highway project because it has reduced the cost of land acquisition. This is because when the Pan Borneo Highway project was implemented, directly many privately owned lands had already been taken over, allowing us to install pipes along the side of the road used.
“But there are certain lands that we have to buy. We hope that when it is completed, the water production capacity from the Telibong Water Plant will double,” he said.
Masidi said the purchase of the lands using the RM9-RM10 million allocation was to enable the alignment of the water pipeline.
“If according to the estimate before the Pan Borneo Highway took over the land, it was approximately RM99 million (cost for land acquisition). But, because the Pan Borneo Highway Project has taken over the area first, we can save money.”
On Datuk Ewon Benedick’s (Kadamaian) call for cooperation between Federal and State to be further enhanced, Masidi said Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Phoong Jin Zhe had informed him that a Cabinet Paper would be presented on setting up a coordinating committee.
Masidi also said the State Government has slightly modified its policy in response to the relocation of the Indonesian capital to Kalimantan.
“What we need to do is improve the main infrastructure in Tawau such as the airport to enjoy a better economic spillover from the relocation of the Indonesian capital to Kalimantan,” he said, to the issue raised by Justin Wong (Sri Tanjong).
Masidi said the Ministry would also look at proposals like institutionalising the Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) under a State Ordinance and also establishing a mechanism to enable users to have access to the water supply without stealing.
The Finance Minister said the supplementary budget is not something strange, as it depends on the needs of the State Government.
“Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, and when there is a lot, it also means that our savings are better than before.
“This RM833 million is not the highest in the history of the supplementary budget. Believe me we will use this money well,” he said.
