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SABAH SURVEYS | Sabah has been blessed with vast tracts of land and many other resources, but the state has never fully enjoyed the fruits of that wealth, said Shafie Apdal, president of Parti Warisan Sabah.
Citing examples of taxes on oil palm income and the oil royalty rate in a speech, he said that Sabah sometimes seems to have to beg to enjoy its own wealth.
“Sabah is not poor, he is rich. (The settlers in Sabah) plant oil palm, fertilize the oil palm, and in five years they bear fruit. In Kuala Lumpur, their legs shake, but through taxes they get the rewards.
“Those (settlers in Sabah) who plant and do the work in the rain and heat have to pay taxes to Kuala Lumpur,” he said while speaking on Kunak in southwestern Sabah while campaigning for Warisan’s candidate Norazlinah Arif.
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He commented that Hundreds of thousands of acres of Sabah land had been given to Felda, but only benefited about 1,500 Sabah settlers, while most of this land was managed by the publicly listed Felda Global Ventures (FGV). of Securities.
And now, he said, Sabah is suffering losses in the form of hundreds of millions of debts due to the price of FGV shares that have plummeted.
“Imagine, we have land, but others benefit while we lose,” said the interim prime minister.
That’s why, he said, when he took over the Sabah administration in 2018, Shafie said he was trying to provide land for the people of Sabah and, he added, there were as many as 11,000 grants available, but only about 6,000 were delivered. finished.
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Similarly, when he recounted how he demanded 20 percent of the oil royalty from Petronas, he was told that such an amount of royalties would bankrupt the oil company.
“This is Sabah oil. Not the Kuala Lumpur oil. “
In fact, he also criticized some parties who claimed that Sabah would face difficulties without the help of the federal government, while many of the rewards that the federal government enjoyed came from Sabah.
“When I am in BN, we can live. When I oppose BN, they suddenly tell me that it will be difficult in Sabah if you don’t have a federal government.
“Do you remember that Kuala Lumpur will face difficulties without Sabah?” he said.
For the record, Sabah has received a five percent royalty since 1976 under the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) of 1974.
The 20 percent royalty for oil-producing states became Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto before the last general election and Sabah leaders have always fought for it.
With that, Shafie asked voters to vote for Warisan so that changes can be made and problems that exist across the state can be fixed, including the problem of basic facilities like water and electricity.
In his speech, Shafie also assured that he will not discriminate against any race or religion while he governs the state.
For example, Shafie said under his administration, Sabah gives Christians two days off for the Christmas holidays, something that is not available in other states and that former Christian leaders like Joseph Kitingan have never given.
“If Christians ask for an extra day, can’t I give it so that the children can visit their parents?
“I help the church and I help the mosque,” he added.
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