Kota Kinabalu: The establishment of a Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) youth cooperative was proposed to improve its members’ economy.
PBS Youth Chief, Christopher Mandut, hoped that the party leadership will give more opportunities to the youth to be fielded in the upcoming State election and appointed to the administration.
“The youth also suggested that the Sabah Government explore new sources to increase the State’s income,” Christopher said during the 38th PBS Annual Delegates Conference at Hongkod Koisaan KDCA Hall.
The youth and women’s meeting was held together and officiated by PBS Deputy President Datuk Seri Dr Joachim Gunsalam.
“We hope the young people will get a share of the economic cake when the State Government has more sources of income,” he said.
To address the ongoing electricity supply issue, it suggested that the government take more initiatives to explore renewable energy sources and coal.
Thus, the PBS youth hoped for the devolution of power from the central government to the State Government so that energy supervision can be accelerated.
It also highlighted the urgent need to build a dam to resolve the water supply problems and electricity needs in Sabah.
However, there are a few challenges to overcome before the dam can be constructed, such as objections from the villagers and land ownership, he said.
On the education issues, the youth urged the Education Ministry that the allocation of maintenance funds to Sabah and Sarawak should not be equated with the schools in Peninsular Malaysia.
It hoped that incidents like the Sabah Education Department lacking funds to send athletes to compete in the peninsula due to financial constraints would not recur.
On the devolution of power, it suggested that the State Government be given full power to approve Federal projects worth RM50 million and below.
It also insisted that the State Government should not only speed up the preparation of tender documents but also have the power to make final decisions in the approving process.
It fully supports the State Government’s proposal to establish a trust fund to manage unused allocations from the Federal Government.
“This trust fund will enable the State Government to use the allocation at any time to continue planning projects that have already been approved,” he said.
