Sabah needs to work with Putrajaya to develop districts bordering Indonesia

 By Olivia Miwil - March 22, 2022 @ 12:33pm

Sabah needs to seize economic opportunities following the relocation of Indonesia's capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah should discuss with Putrajaya to develop the Sabah-Kalimantan border particularly in Tawau, said

He said Sabah needs to seize economic opportunities following the relocation of Indonesia's capital from Jakarta to East Kalimantan.

He said this was important because there would be many economic activities and security issues with both being under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

"We cannot be left behind in the development of this region. Sabah cannot just be a spectator in the development of neighbouring countries.

"We need to rise, seize the opportunity to develop together. Like it or not, we must move together, only then can we create prosperity together," he said at the state assembly sitting when debating the government policy speech by Sabah Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin.

Ghulam said as Tawau is the nearest to the Indonesian border, there should be more focus for the development in the district particularly on infrastructure.

He also said it was time for the government to review the regional cooperation platform through the Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) to explore the economic prospects that could be developed following the relocation of Indonesia's capital.

Meanwhile, Tan Lee Fatt (DAP-Likas), during his debate, proposed for the state government to look into online virtual learning (PdPR) for students.

He said such a system would help the government to reduce costs in repairing and building new schools.

"Apart from that, the PdPR system could tackle the issue of heavy bags that could affect the health of children, reduce transportation costs to schools and traffic jams.

"The government should also study and identify appropriate and effective methods in reducing government costs and increase the quality of education to another level.

"Therefore, the financial sources for education in Sabah can be channelled to the interiors," he said.

KOTA KINABALU 22 MARCH 2022: Kawang assemblyman Datuk Ghulamhaidar Khan Bahadar at the state assembly sitting. Picture courtesy of Datuk Ghulamhaidar Khan Bahadar