Change for a better economy

KOTA KINABALU:Failing to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by the government was blamed because it does not have an economic development master plan, said Clement Lee, a member of Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Api-Api Constituency Liaison Committee.

He added that a government is incoherent, aimless, haphazard as well as indecisive without an economic master plan. The master plan should also include improvement of basic infrastructure and upgrading of utilities. Without these basic things, everything will be running at a higher cost and more time consuming. Good infrastructure and cheaper utilities will lure potential investors to Sabah, he stressed.

Sabah is known to have high cost of living, bad infrastructure, inefficient utilities and higher electricity tariff which the government failed to address, he claimed.

“Our economy is getting worse after the political coup by Warisan government. It has got worse during the Pandemic. The government needs a complete makeover,” he pointed out.

The people of the state will be facing a time of real hardship. Businesses will crumble, companies go bust and many people will be left jobless including fresh school graduates, youths and others, he said.

“Change of government is inevitable in order to sustain the economy which is heading south,” said Clement.

He reiterated that the failure to attract FDI into Sabah will be translated into less job opportunities, less higher quality jobs for professional certificates, Diploma and Bachelor Degree holders what more the MBA or PHD holders.

“Sabah will also be facing a brain drain when these individuals seek jobs elsewhere outside the state or even country.
Clement said a check on online portals like JobStreet, Linkedin or even local newspapers on job ads vacancies for Civil/M&E/software engineers, architects, accountants or project management, to name a few, will show that these jobs are very few in Sabah.

He suggested that the highest priority for any government is to improve and upgrade the basic utilities supply, better basic infrastructure in order to boost the confidence of foreign investors towards Sabah.

For example to stop the inconsistency of water supply problem by applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) device to detect the water pressure by minimizing or to curb the problems before they happen caused by broken pipes or blockages.

“Lastly, I humbly urge the people of Sabah to support SAPP who have a mission and vision for our Sabah future with a complete solution and a good delivery system.”- pr/BNN