KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan wants the controversial carbon trade deal to be implemented next year.
The Sabah Deputy Chief Minister said that one of the key game changers that the state can look forward to in the coming year would be the implementation of the deal known as the Nature Conservation Agreement (NCA).
“It must be implemented so through it we can raise up between RM4bil and RM8bil in revenue annually within five years and attract foreign direct investments as well as private funding initiatives for up to US$12bil,” he said, in his new year message on Saturday (Dec 31).
“These policy initiatives will yield positive consequences to our gross domestic product (GDP) growth per capita.
“We will also be able to implement flood mitigation projects on our own, strengthen our food security, develop our rural areas, provide housing for the people and improve our infrastructures,” he added.
Kitingan also believed that the state will be able to improve its power generation and transmission which was vital to attract investors to pump money into Sabah.
“On top of these, we will be able to create employment opportunities for Sabahans and generate a higher income for every citizen,” he said.
The NCA has drawn heavy criticism from conservationists and politicians, with Kitingan involved in a war of words over the deal with Opposition lawmakers at the sabah state assembly sitting in December last year.
Many also questioned the state government’s decision to appoint Singapore-based Hoch Standard Pte Ltd, concerned over the company’s experience in carbon credit management.
There were also questions over details of which of the state’s forest reserves were being placed under the NCA.
In February this year, the state government clarified that the controversial NCA was still not enforceable as due diligence was still being conducted on the third-party company involved.
The state Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), through Attorney General (AG) Datuk Nor Asiah Mohd Yusof said that although the NCA was signed in October last year, it was not yet finalised, nor legally binding.
On a separate matter, Kitingan also proposed that the Sabah Maju Jaya development road map needed to be revised and upgraded in order to have quantifiable objectives and results.
He said 2023 could be a major turning point for Sabah’s fortunes but that state leaders and the people must be prepared to challenge the norm and do away with the “business as usual” approach in doing things.
“The best of Sabah is yet to come,” he said, adding Sabah’s GDP had steadily grown at a rate between 3% and 7% annually.
But he is convinced that the state could achieve far better than this economic growth level in view of its vast natural resources endowment and strategic location in the region.
“Sabah will continue with this trajectory, or probably worse, if it maintains its business as usual approach,” Kitingan warned, adding that such approach, mindset and habit will only blind the state to its full capacity for growth.
Kitingan, who is also Sabah Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister emphasised that in fact this was no longer a matter of choice.
“Our GDP per capita is among the worst in the nation at US$6,000 compared to the national average of US$12,000. Eight of the 10 poorest districts in the country are in Sabah.
“In fact, Sabah had been declared as the poorest state in Malaysia by the World Bank in 2010.
“Yet, ironically, Sabah is probably the richest state in terms of its natural resources from oil and gas, timber, oil palm, tourism to name a just a few,” he said.
Part of Sabah’s misfortune, Kitingan said, had been caused by its lack of control of its natural resources especially oil and gas.
Another is the state’s financial dependence on the Federal Government for development, he added.
He reiterated that the failure of Putrajaya to honour its constitutional obligation to return 40% of net revenue derived from the state, 10% export duty on petroleum and 10% import duty on petroleum products has reduced Sabah to become dependent on the central powers.
On the other hand, he said Sabah political leadership is partly to blame for their failure to fight for the state’s constitutional rights over the last 50 years.
“There can only be political unity if endless and needless politicking stops,” said the Sabah STAR president.
Instead, he urged the state leadership to put all their focus on awakening the giant that Sabah should become by formulating new policies and laws to meet the requirements of modernisation, global climate change challenges and new technologies.
