KOTA KINABALU – Sabah will tap into its financial reserves to resolve legacy issues such as power outages, water supply and others, said Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
He said the state will look into these problems if it has the financial means, adding that the current state reserves now stands at RM5 billion.
“God-willing, to address the state’s top needs such as replacing our electricity generator sets and water, I have informed the Sabah Works Minister (Datuk Shahelmey Yahya) to use our reserves to solve these problems,” he said during his motion of gratitude at the Sabah assembly.
Hajiji said he took note of the suggestions made by opposition leader Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Senallang-Warisan) on the matter.
Earlier, Sabah’s Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun pointed out that the state has collected around RM7 billion in revenue from state taxes and others.
However, the state reserves fluctuate as the state has a large expenditure, with over RM700 million alone spent on emoluments, said Masidi.
On another matter, Hajiji said Sabah has only issued prospecting licences to mining companies to explore minerals in the state.
He said the state has issued over 30 such licences to date, with the companies being given two years to find minerals, to which the licences will be revoked if they did not find any.
“This (licences) is an initial stage in identifying whether there are minerals in the licensed area or not.
“The state government will only make a decision on the mining activities if those firms discover economically viable amounts of minerals to be extracted,” he said in his ministry winding-up speech during the Sabah assembly sitting here today.
He was responding to Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Senallang-Warisan) who demanded the state government to come clean with the issuance of mining licences.
Hajiji said the engagement of foreign companies was made due to the limitations of local companies, and therefore, the government has an open policy approach on the matter.
However, Hajiji could not ascertain how many local companies had been given the prospecting licences, but revealed that firms in Sarawak and the peninsula have expressed interest regarding the exploration of minerals in Sabah.
Hajiji said he will also provide the list of companies awarded with such licences in a written reply.
He said the state will set a limit of up to 1,000 acres for mineral management and only 200 acres for mining later if the companies successfully found minerals in the concession areas.
“There are many things to be detailed such as the forest and environment before we finally issue the mining licences,” he said. – The Vibes, May 24, 2023
