Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah government is urged to acquire the historic Chartered Bank building here which is up for sale for RM35 million.

This is to preserve the historical structure next to the historical burnt down former Sabah Welfare Department office building that was once the headquarters of the Chartered Company and later the Colonial Administrative Office where North Borneo was inducted as the last British Crown Colony.

In the past, the Standard Chartered Bank Group sold the building where it has operated since the 1950s to a private developer that built the Tanjung Aru Plaza mall for some RM10 million, after Bank Negara rationalised banking requirements to discourage financial institutions from owning real estate property.