SEMPORNA: Parti Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said a future Warisan-led state government will assist Sabahans in settling their National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans if Yayasan Sabah has sufficient financial resources.
He said although PTPTN is a federal agency, the state could do what Sarawak has done by helping its students repay their outstanding loans.
Shafie, who is also MP for Semporna and Assemblyman for Senallang, reiterated that this was in line with his earlier pledge in 2018 to restructure Yayasan Sabah to serve its original purpose of empowering Sabahans through education.
He also said loan assistance would include civil servants, both active and retired, who are still servicing Yayasan Sabah education loans.
“The foundation must have the money – not other people who use it to buy over our elected representatives,” he said, without elaborating.
In 2021, the Sarawak government, through Yayasan Sarawak, signed an MoU with PTPTN to help Sarawak borrowers repay their student loans. Under this scheme, those who had settled at least 30pc of their PTPTN loans were eligible for a 30pc repayment incentive on the remaining balance.
As of 2023, the initiative had disbursed over RM90 million and benefited more than 25,000 Sarawakian borrowers, with continued allocations in the state budgets for 2024 and 2025.
Shafie stressed that education would remain central to Warisan’s approach, alongside long-term economic reforms and industrial development.
He also took aim at ongoing basic infrastructure problems in Sabah, such as the water crisis at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), calling it a “human problem” that should not be politicised or used to penalise students.
“This is about basic needs — clean water to drink, bathe and live. When students protest, they are investigated. That’s not how we solve problems,” he said.
Shafie said that if Warisan is returned to power, the state would focus on building a knowledge-based society, investing in youth, and creating jobs through entrepreneurship and strategic resource development.
