THE Federal Government, through the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac), will delegate full authority over the Sabah-Malaysia My Second Home (Sabah-MM2H) programme to Sabah soon.
Motac Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said this during a meeting on Sabah-MM2H with State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew held at Motac’s National Heritage Department at Sultan Abdul Samad building, Kuala Lumpur, on July 18.
With the delegation of full power, Liew said the Sabah-MM2H programme will be under the supervision of the Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry (KePKAS) as approved by the State Government.
“This means Sabah can come up with its own terms and conditions for Sabah-MM2H.
“We will be empowered to process applications and issue the MM2H pass to successful applicants.
“I was assured that the enforcement task will be passed to us whereby we can come up with our own version,” Liew said in a statement on July 19.
During the meeting, Liew and Tiong exchanged views on the management of MM2H and Sabah-MM2H.
Liew said Sabah has a State Committee to oversee the Sabah-MM2H programme.
“My Ministry will appoint representatives to handle participants’ applications,” she clarified.
To clear the air, it was pointed out that existing companies previously licensed by Motac under the MM2H programme (which was launched in 2002) have to get a special licence from KePKAS and comply with Sabah-MM2H terms and conditions if they wish to switch to Sabah-MM2H.
While conceding that the revised terms and regulations for new participants under the MM2H (Malaysia) programme will serve as guidelines, Liew said Sabah will not be bound by it.
“Sabah will appoint its own committee to study the terms and conditions of the Sabah-MM2H Programme.
“However, it was a good meeting between KePKAS and Motac where several terms and conditions for participation were cleared.
“We hope there will be more discourse on the programme from time to time,” said Liew who was accompanied by KePKAS Permanent Secretary Josie Lai Mei Sing.
Also present were Motac Secretary-General Dato’ Roslan Abdul Rahman, Deputy Secretary-General (Tourism) Dr Yasmeen Yasim, other key Ministry officials and Motac Sabah Director Ibrahim Othman.
