SABAH saw more power and water shortages, as well as poor road conditions in 2023, outweighing the state’s booming investments, revenue collection and rebound of the tourism industry.
It also marked the third year of Sabah being under the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) administration and the Sabah Maju Jaya Blueprint which saw the state drawing over RM9 billion in foreign and domestic investments in the first half of the year.
The state also declared over RM4.69 billion (as of August) and RM6.7 billion in cash reserves amid a backdrop of an improving economy, especially in tourism following the opening of borders after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Yet Sabah could not hide the fact that its problems with electricity, water supply and bad road conditions reached a boiling point while the state is also troubled by issues of poverty, unemployment, illegal immigrants, and poor school and health amenities.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has identified most of these problems as legacy issues which his administration has inherited from past governments, even though he was also part of the regimes where many of these issues took shape.
Hajiji has been part of the state cabinet during the Barisan Nasional reign and also a lawmaker supportive of the short-lived Warisan-led state government, before taking on the state top post in 2020.
However, it was not until the formation of the unity government at the federal level and the political shift in Sabah in 2022 that finally saw some progress in dealing with these state problems.
Power and water issues
Sabah’s power failure problems were first detected in the first quarter of 2023 but it was not until May when the biggest brown-out incident took place that got the government’s attention.
Water shortages and access to treated water supply especially to Sabahans living in the far-flung areas of the state had for decades been a problem in the state, even before the Sabah Water Department corruption scandal erupted.
But since the scandal broke in 2018 not much has improved in terms of the department’s services, which was totally under the state’s purview.
The year saw massive rationing in the West Coast districts, with problems like low water pressure in Papar to broken pipelines in the Sepanggar area, while Sandakan in the East Coast of the state experienced high salinity.
The incident that saw the state government scrambling to resolve came as early as January, particularly in the Sepanggar constituency, where the Universiti Malaysia Sabah campus was located and thousands of students from all over Malaysia stay.
In Sandakan, residents complained of salinity from their tap water at home and repairs of riverine lock and river barrages were already done in March. It would take several more months for the salinity level to go undetected by residents in the district.
The water shortage issue also turned into one of the most hotly debated issues in the Sabah legislative assembly, where it has affected not just consumers but also local businesses relying on the supply for business.
Then allegations of private transporters profiteering from sending treated waters into areas where the water supply has been rationed surfaced in July when a bill of the charges made to the Likas Hospital went viral.
Shahelmy has announced several initiatives will be carried out to address the water shortage problem in the West Coast districts including efforts to reduce the state’s high level of non-revenue water (NRW) and water theft, which stood over 50%.
Road woes
Sabahans have come up with a name for its road trouble - Jalan Bulan (moon-like roads) - in describing the intermittent holes and cracks on the roads they claim resemble the surface of the moon.
The bad road conditions in the state were not new but worsened between 2021 and 2022 when Sabah recorded its highest annual rainfall.
Roads constantly inundated by flood waters and landslides and overladen vehicles driving over them, especially in the rural areas were identified as the cause for the conditions.
The problem was further compounded by the fact that Sabah was without the financial means to carry out the much-needed repairs and maintenance for the roads.
Although the poor road conditions have been widely reported in the news and social media, it was not until the King decided to go on a tour of the Pan Borneo Highway that the issue got national attention.
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Billah Shah and his family took on a five-day road trip across Sabah in the “Kembara Pan Borneo” from September 3 to 7, and along his journey, the royal family took written notes of all the complaints they gathered during their many stops.
Sabah folks had anticipated that Abdullah would experience the moon-like roads and true enough the king made it known that he would bring all the complaints directly to the Prime Minister after his tour.
In his speech before departing to Sarawak, the king in jest said “Alhamdulilah, my back is still strong, but I will reserve my complaints here,” when reflecting his 759 km journey across Sabah.
“In my enjoyable drive, I had my co-pilot record all the notes, including complaints, views and the breathtaking scenery I encountered.
“I will not voice these concerns here, but I will use them as a reminder during my visit and express them later,” the Yang di-Pertuan Agong added in his address at a state dinner at the Sabah International Convention Centre.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who had visited Sabah many times even before becoming the prime minister was well aware of the notorious issues in Sabah.
In January just after merely weeks in office, Anwar announced that Sabah and Sarawak would be given the autonomy to decide on projects below RM50 million.
But it took 12 months for Sabah to be able to finally call for tender for these projects. The matter came to light when reporters approached Shahelmy recently.
Anwar who after visiting Sabah for the Kaamatan Harvest Festival in May also announced a RM320 million allocation to the state to implement 21 short-term fixes to the state water problems.
But it was noted the state has not received any of the funds and it was revealed the monies would be in the form of a soft loan or zero interest loans from the Federal Government.
Regulatory control over electricity
Sabah will also be taking regulatory control over electricity on Jan 1, 2024.
The efforts were the result of Hajiji’s demand for control in August 2022 following a meeting with the previous federal government’s Energy and Natural Resources Ministry as part of Sabah’s effort to retake Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB).
Sabah passed its first hurdle in gaining regulatory control over electricity supply after the Dewan Rakyat passed both the Renewable Energy (Amendment) Bill 2022 and Sustainable Energy Development Authority (Amendment) Bill 2022 in Parliament.
The move was followed by the passing of the Energy Commission Bill 2023 and Gas Supply Bill 2023 at the Sabah Legislative Assembly on January 10 which subsequently saw the formation of the Energy Commission of Sabah.
The state will make the finishing touches to the devolution of power by introducing the Electricity Supply Enactment and Renewable Energy Enactment bills during a special assembly sitting scheduled on Jan 3 next year.
Power and unemployment
On December 7, the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ulu Padas Water dam, which would increase an additional 15% into the grid was carried out.
The state could only see the additional power by 2027 once the hydro dam project is completed.
Several other plans are being listed to resolve the power supply problem in Sabah, including building another hydropower dam in Papar, but much of it would only be carried out from 2024 onwards.
The state also still has the highest number of unemployed in the country although the number of jobless persons is reducing,
Sabah recorded its highest unemployment in 2021 after the pandemic at 9%, but the figure soon reduced significantly this year to 7.7%.
In August, the then Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar said 29% or 169,800 people are jobless in the state. – The Vibes, December 31, 2023
