Make Sabah more
exciting the Sabah way.
It is indeed very exciting for Sabah Chief Minister
Tan Sri DSP Musa Aman to mention that Sabah can match Singapore and Dubai
and he went on to say that the State Government wants Sabah to be on a par
with Singapore and Dubai through the implementation of several transformation
programmes, including Tanjung Aru Eco Development (TAED).
Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman said the
development of TAED would beautify and further transform the image of Kota
Kinabalu as the capital of Sabah through the construction of International
standard hotels and various facilities.
Whether TAED can really kick off or not, a lot of
other factors should be properly considered and it is indeed a surprise that CM
has singled out TAED as a reference here.
Looking at a broader context, how can Sabah match
Singapore and Dubai given all the known parameters of these three places?
The statistics are for all to see.
According to the census conducted by the Statistics Centre
of Dubai, the population of the emirate was 1,771,000 as of 2009, which
included 1,370,000 males and 401,000 females.
As of June 2017, the population is 2,789,000. The region
covers 1,287.5 square kilometres (497.1 sq mi).
One of the world's fastest growing economies, Dubai's gross
domestic product is projected at US$107.1 billion, with a growth rate of 6.1%
in 2014.
For Singapore since independence, extensive land reclamation
has increased its total size by 23% to 130 square kilometres
(50 sq mi) with about 6 million inhabitants. Singapore’s GDP is about
USD400 billions.
The total land area of Sabah is nearly 73,904 square
kilometres (28,534 sq mi) with about 4m people including illegal and
dubious citizens. The GDP of comparative huge Sabah in size of the three areas
is less than RM63 billion.
Even with TAED’s expected revenue of RM30b (one time and not
annually), it is nowhere near the other two areas Singapore and Dubai.
So why should we chase up with the other two areas? Why don’t we do our own things for our own
sustainable and environmental friendly development in Sabah without competing
with the hall marks of the other two areas?
Having said that I would like to suggest that the Government declare
and create a Cooperative zone in islands
as a new frontier for expedited development the Sabah way.
There are about 400 islands in Sabah some big and many small ones, and
once co-operatised, some islands could be grouped together in cluster for
economic scale for better performance.
This is an unknown frontier but
islands are attractive places to be in and worth to be explored to the full as
some major islands like Labuan, Sipidan, Ligitan, Mataking, Pulau Tiga (Kuala Penyu),
Pulau Tiga (Kudat), Banggi, and many others for economic contribution in a
scale never seen before.
Such purposes like tourism,
farming/fishing, health resorts, security, for maximum utilised by a local new
urban population to fully develop them with good environment in an appropriate
low tax system with all the desired trading facilities are fully justified.
All the islands would be
co-ordinated by all advanced communication tools and travel links by a few
shipping lines thus powered by renewal energy sources like solar panels, wind
and waves around the cluster of islands.
With adequate supply of clean energy, clean water would not be a problem
as desalination process could be put in place.
All the operators in the islands
would be cooperatives. To attract investors, GST in these islands would be zero
like it is in Labuan. Cooperatives are
very prominent elsewhere in the world.
Then we would need new
electricity set up. This is
justified in view of the sad story of SESB.
The story of the electricity supplier
for decades has been too much to be desired largely with unsustainable losses
for decades and so much so that TNB has to come in to boost up the latest
company SESB. The end of SESB is sadly
and unfortunately must be a reality so that a new set up with new modus
operandi to take over the monopoly so far granted to SESB. Even with a monopolistic body, it cannot be
sustained, and many questions cannot be dealt with to resolve the many woes
attached to SESB.
So apart from the fossil fuel as major source for the
generation of electricity while hydro power is likely dwindling due to
environmental damages as irreversible, it is timely that technology is now
available for various renewable energy sources like solar panel, wind, waves,
biomass and still available hydropower to be fully exploited in Sabah
surrounded by seas. All major towns and urban areas are at the coastline, when
waves and wind can be 24/7 while solar (limited hours of sun), biomass, and
hydro sources are obvious limited naturally.
With the exploitation of new renewable sources, our energy
costs could be low and regular black outs are history. The co-op movement should be awarded this
role of supplying and distribution of electricity to boost economy in the state
especially the industrial sector which demands cheap and reliable energy.
Obviously Sabah with a very big hinterland would need
tremendous fund to implement first class basic infrastructure and communication
facilities to bring about enhanced economy growth the Sabah way. Unless such fund is forthcoming, how would we
match up with Dubai and Singapore?
Joshua Y C Kong 24/1/2018
