Kota Kinabalu: Two Warisan assemblymen claim the Sabah Government sidelined the east coast, citing poor healthcare, weak tourism planning and neglected infrastructure.
Elopura’s Calvin Chong and Sri Tanjung’s Justin Wong raised these concerns with Wong questioning whether Sabahans were being treated as “third-class citizens” in their own state.
Chong said the Duchess of Kent Hospital in Sandakan continued to face shortage of specialists, outdated equipment and insufficient infrastructure despite increasing patient numbers.
He asked whether the State Government had worked with federal authorities to address the situation and whether incentives could be introduced to attract healthcare professionals to Sandakan.
Chong also questioned if hospital upgrades, including additional beds and better parking facilities, were being planned and monitored.
Wong echoed similar concerns about Hospital Tawau saying despite being upgraded to a state-level facility, the hospital still lacked critical specialists such as a cardiologist.
“Sabah, from the perspective of size, is at least the combination of five states in Peninsular Malaysia. The distance from Tawau to Kota Kinabalu for emergency heart surgery is a serious concern,” he said.
“Only those who are wealthy can afford to charter a private jet. What about the B40 group? They have to rely on road transport, which takes more than seven hours.”
Wong urged the Government to consider more assertive measures, including direct intervention in federal matters when public health is at stake.
Both assemblymen also pushed for urgent reforms in tourism strategy, saying Sandakan and Tawau were still hampered by a lack of direct international flights and weak promotion efforts.
Chong called for more routes to be opened from key cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Singapore, and cities in China and the Philippines. He also urged the government to upgrade Sandakan airport to support increased traffic.
Wong said the cancellation of international flights, especially from China and Indonesia, had created anxiety among tourism players, with no clear explanation from the Government to date.
He asked whether there were any updates on proposed international links such as the Sandakan–Zamboanga route or the resumption of flights between Tawau and Tarakan.
He also urged the government to seize the opportunity to promote Sabah during Malaysia’s Asean chairmanship this year, saying it would be a missed opportunity if no strategy was in place.
Both pressed the Government on affordable housing, with Chong asking if there were efforts to increase low-cost housing stock and provide subsidies for B40 and M40 buyers.
He also raised concerns over Sabah Development Bank’s non-performing loans and called for a comprehensive audit of its loan disbursements and risk assessment processes.
Wong questioned why the government could announce multi-billion ringgit revenues annually but still struggle to improve basic infrastructure.
