Richest Sabah in TN 2050 is too late for many after so much lost for decades

Richest Sabah in TN 2050 is too late for many after so much lost for decades

“Sabah would be richest state in due course” as per Federal Minister from Sabah in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan (DSARD) in the BN Government and to me it is deemed to be “fake” news in many already known context. (Daily Express 20/8/2017 in front page headline).

He also said that Sabah would be most developed State in the country,

The details as reported in the said news item are too vague to give any substance to justify that statement especially most of the figures refer to the “darkest ages” of Sabah under an undeniable “kleptocratic” and autocratic Governrnent which had treated Sabah’s wealth as in their pockets.  Profligacy, mismanagement, embezzlement, corruption of the State Government was a common order of the day.  Maybe today, those scenarios are still prevailing in Sabah and elsewhere.  Even MACC had said that inflated project costs are not corruption hence condoning the most corrupted practices in poor governance.

If we go back to the colonial days annual budgets, they were very small and yet the British colonial masters did much in bringing Sabah on the right footing in many aspects.  So the story of rags to riches for Sabah is quite depressing in that so much wealth had been generated in Sabah from its massive resources for over 53 years, and I hope DSARD can explain why Sabah does not have a matching massive sovereign fund?  DSARD, please also tell us what reserve does the State have?  Indeed, Sabah had to issue bonds to keep the Government afloat.  

So how can we envisage what DSARD said?  Is he privy to some vital information that others do not have?  So as a senior leader, he should guide the people to that vision soon.

He also said that there has been a huge increase in state reserves where in 2015 it had RM2.1 billion as compared with only RM80 million in 1976. That reserve can include a bond value of almost RM1b.  Is that true, DSARD?

In 1972 he said Sabah's annual revenue was RM176 million when its timber industry was at its peak.  "In 2015, it grew many times over to RM3.5 billion. We achieved this in 43 years whereas other countries took longer," he said.

The statement in 1972 and 2015 is really off target and not comparing like with like in term of resources exploitation.  In 1972, there was no oil and gas except the irresponsible exploitation of the precious pristine rainforests by hand held saws with its limited logging volume.  Then in 2015, timber was very much depleted and that oil and gas plus oil palms were the wealth generators.

Even by the British standard before 1963, the performance in 1972 of RM176m can be considered excessive by rapping the forests albeit limited by the time consuming hand held saw by two loggers.

According to my book titled “ Sabah Wealth – the image of woods power”  (ISBN:983-2653-08-8) 2004. Sabah had revenue from the forests as follows:- RM1.021billion (1967-1975); RM6.816b (1976-1984); RM7.129b (1985-1993); RM3.96b (1994-2002) (page 2).  So it was the PBS Government that had rapped the forest most while all state Governments were guilty of de-forestation.  The fact that UMNO Sabah did not chop off so many trees in 9 years was because Sabah had become almost “bald”.  I think Berjaya and PBS governments could fell so many trees in such short times was because of the advent of the effective destructive hand held chainsaws by a single logger in very short cutting time.  What conscience now of the Governments then?

So much to dispute DSARD’s views based on historic facts.

Now let me have the chance to enlighten DSARD and others on the various indicators now and into the future as how Sabah very much neglected indisputable by the Federal Government for more than 5 decades since1963 from once the richest state and now lying second from the bottom of the wealth ranking amongst the states in Malaysia can be the richest state again?

The Minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), DSARD maybe seeing some more funding into Sabah but definitely not enough to transform Sabah into the richest state based on what I intend to share on in this article.

So how much do we need to be defrayed in Sabah to achieve that status soon?  Would such massive fund be available in Sabah when we rely on millions of foreigners and foreign workers when so many hundreds of thousands of locals had migrated elsewhere?

What I am going to list is not exhaustive of our financial requirements.

Sabah had been very much neglected in the infrastructure local within towns and inter-towns links and mobility within Kota Kinabalu where the population and the number of vehicles are seeing a steep rise without adequate public transport and limited increase in roads and parking areas.

Even the 10 flyovers approved in 2015 and 4 more in 2017 costing more than RM2b would be inadequate to cope with the congestion likely to be worsening in a few years time because many people bring their vehicles from other towns in Sabah.  So to cope with increasing congestion, we would need at least RM20b in Kota Kinabalu and other major towns in Sabah for new good roads, flyovers and adequate parking facilities.

In KK, we may urgently need Mono Rail Transport system (MRT) which is also very costly.

The other very costly infrastructure project is Pan Borneo Highway (PBH) in Sabah, and Chief Minister Musa Aman said Phase One of the project involved a cost of RM12.86 billion. So how much would PBH’s cost be when completed in 2021 if ever completed at all?  The costs overrun can be three times or more than that proposed budget.

Another very important infrastructure is the Airport KKIA due to over capacity in 5 years time and so it is very urgent that a new airport in a new site or existing site be enlarged if possible.  Which proposal or option is cheaper maybe a vital consideration as money is always a constraint in Malaysia.  It is obvious expansion of the existing run into the sea at Putatan is much cheaper. If a new one is to be sited in North (Tuaran) or South (Kimanis) of Kota Kinabalu, it is obvious that the costs would be much more to include the supporting infrastructure like adequate roads and other facilities must be in place.  A totally new airport would be likely to be RM20b while the expansion of KKIA can be about RM5b.  There are still some land that can be acquired in KKIA for its expansion or another parallel run way with adequate supporting facilities.  The area like the rugby field, the exKKIA2, part of the TAED where the ex civil servants quarters were, taman perdana, and Perkeso site and the land behind the Shell station.  The time is ticking away in 5 years and new site can be more complicated.  Please do not use the doomed TAED project to move the KKIA elsewhere.

If we add up all the few important and strategic items in infrastructure, we would need RM100b and more to accomplish them.

We may claim that Sabah has the revenue to proceed to implement many expensive projects based on the revenue generating resources like Tourism, Oil and gas and Palm oil which have been into tens/hundreds of billions Ringgit but most of such revenues are diverted to the federal coffer for decades.

Amongst the three items, Oil had generated a few hundred billions Ringgit since 1976 but Sabah only get 5% of that gross figure and 5% is really a pittance.

So is DSARD thinking in the line of 40% revenue of Sabah due to Sabah for decades, which can be RM100b at least if Putrajaya just settle a legal responsibility according to MA63 without any further negotiation as any Constitutional item is not negotiation but comply only.

We know from the records that in the 11 Malaysia Plans, Sabah and Sarawak both “nations” (now declared by Sarawak CM as “Negara partner”) in the formation of Malaysia only received less than 10% each in allocations which are also in pittance. Even in the new Tourism Act, Sabah and Sarawak would not receive 40% thereof but about 10% of whatever collected in both “nations”.  DSARD, why not 40% for Tourism Act?

If really Putrajaya has immediate RM100b for Sabah and another RM100b for Sarawak, then Sabah can be considered a rich state and not the richest state again soon and not in due course.

Why it is a rich state only is because there are other financial factors that need to be addressed immediately when the poverty level has worsened in recent years with the introduction of GST at 6% in 2015 and regular widespread flooding in Sabah

Flooding throughout Sabah is very costly to recover for the victims and Government must intervene to bring relief to the losses due to massive flooding to homes, infrastructures and farm lands .

GST is not 6% only and could have an unexplained damaging impact to the consumers especially the low income, the fixed income, the pensioners with or without pension in an increasing aging population.  GST is still too wide ranging despite some zero or exempt items.  Even exempt and zero items would face increases in prices to the consumers as administrative costs have increased by hefty sums.  The increasing aging population need much medical and health care and both Government hospitals QE1 and QE2 are overflowed with patients daily.  Many may perish prematurely due to lack of such pressing attention.

I doubt the official figure of poverty in Sabah is accurate when it was more than 20% in 2000 when UMNO Sabah pledged 0% in 2000 in its 1994’s Election manifesto for New Sabah.

Now DSARD promised richest status for Sabah and how can that be when the nation is facing tremendous challenge in securing adequate fund to operate the nation?

How would the Ministry of Finance come up with RM200b (minimum) for Sabah and Sarawak within a few years in the existing parameters of financial capability especially when the national debts or external debts is nearing the trillion Ringgit ?

Have Malaysia given up on high income for the people and how high is this income to be? Even many thousands of graduates are long jobless and many new commercial lots are still unoccupied and many small businesses are closing down.

Sabah’s annual budget bordering RM4b and there is nothing to shout about as we have an unusual explosive demographic of more than 4 million residents legal and illegal with an uncontrolled rise in a few decades rising from 500,000 in 1960.

If we divide RM4b by 4 million people, it is peanuts at 1,000 per head to do anything except skeletal effort to improve the livelihood of the people generally.  That is not even a survival budget without any sacrifice.  I think many Sabahans have been overwhelmed by the “losing or lost” opportunities for decades.

I hope this long article on my birthday inevitable long to impart enlightenment to the authorities who chose to reign but fail miserably and who can deny that we are not on the brink of bankruptcy or the people go into deep depression due to a failed nation? My people, please wake up.

I think many would wonder how would the nation settle the nation debts of RM1trillions and thereabout and still rising with more commitments of debts by Putrajaya.

Several countries with oil resources have accumulated much in sovereign fund but Malaysia has squandered its wealth and Petronas could not in recent years contribute much to the central coffer as it was the major contributor to the treasury previously.  Also we must be warned that oil may not be a commodity to provide financial comfort to many nations as substitutes to energy are available.

Would DSARD explain why vision 2020 is now obsolete (failure?)and replaced by Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN 2050) which I believe is also elusive given the prevailing too much unproductive/wasteful affairs of the nation.  Why 2050?  Is Najib’s hope to be around at the helm to be realistic in 2050?

Joshua Y C Kong 22/8/2107