MM2H and waste management: Handing over the reins to Sabah Government
Published on: Thursday, August 29, 2024
Liew (left), chairing the meeting between KePKAS and Motac.
Kota Kinabalu: The Federal Government has made the State’s first official Sabah Day celebration this Saturday sweeter by formalising the delegation of power on implementing the Sabah-Malaysia My Second Home (Sabah-MM2H) programme, as well as making preparations to hand over the control of scheduled waste management.
Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) Sec-Gen Dato' Roslan Tan Sri Abdul Rahman handed over the letter of intent on Sabah-MM2H to State Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry Permanent Secretary Josie Lai, Wednesday.
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It was witnessed by Minister Datuk Christina Liew.
The move followed a special meeting between Liew and Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Dato' Seri Tiong King Sing last month, delegating full authority to Sabah to appoint state agents for the Sabah-MM2H.
“This delegation of power refers to the appointment of agents by KePKAS (State Ministry), monitoring of the agents and enforcement of the programme. KePKAS has its own guidelines for appointment and issuance of licence to agents.
The State Cabinet has approved the terms and conditions for participation in the programme,” Liew said, adding that any (future) reviews shall be referred to the Cabinet for approval.
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The State Committee, which oversees the operations of Sabah-MM2H, is chaired by the Minister, and would meet regularly to screen applications before issuing the MM2H pass to successful applicants.
The Sabah-MM2H programme was approved in principle by the State Government in February 2023, and officially launched on June 30 this year.
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Roslan called for a trilateral meeting in future between Motac, KePKAS and Sarawak's Tourism Ministry to iron out any issues arising from the implementation of MM2H in both states.
He said there was an increase in the collection of tourism tax from Sabah last year (2023) post-Covid compared to the 2019 pre-Covid level.
“It is a two-fold increase, which means Sabah is doing very well in tourism. We (Motac) have returned 50pc of the tax (collected) back to Sabah,” he said.
Meanwhile, the State Government would assume control of Scheduled Waste management from the Federal Department of Environment, effective January 2026.
Liew said the decision aligns with the devolution of power under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“The decision was ratified during the Sabah Cabinet meeting on Aug. 21 presided over by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor,” she said.
She said this marks the first phase in a broader transfer of environmental management responsibilities from federal to state.
Several preparatory measures are already underway namely;
- Amendments to the Environment Protection Enactment 2002 and drafting of new subsidiary legislation specific to Scheduled Waste.
- Development of a comprehensive Scheduled Waste management plan for Sabah.
- Creation of an online monitoring system for Scheduled Waste.
- Capacity building within the Environment Protection Department Sabah, supported by the Federal Department of Environment.
“The devolution of power by the Federal Government to the Sabah Government under the MA63 with regards to the environment will be implemented in phases, starting with the management of Scheduled Waste,” she said.
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