KOTA KINABALU – A regional development authority (RDA) will be set up to manage the new border township in Serudong, Kalabakan, which will be one of the four entry points to the state from Kalimantan, Indonesia, said Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
The other three entry points are in Long Pasia, Pagalungan and Sebatik.
Hajiji said the RDA will be a catalyst for growth in Serudong, and the proposal for the setting up of the Sabah Maju Jaya Serudong RDA will be tabled at the state assembly sitting next month.
He said the state government is committed to ensuring that the border township will be developed as planned, in anticipation of major developments that will take place with Indonesia’s plan to move its capital to East Kalimantan.
“The border township will include industrial and commercial zones, housing and other facilities to be developed around the Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and Security (CIQS) centre.
“The development of the CIQS centre at the Malaysia-Indonesia border in Borneo will be funded by the federal government as mentioned by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob during the tabling of the 12th Malaysia Plan last September,” he said in a statement here today.
Earlier, Hajiji and members of the Sabah Economic Advisory Council were briefed on the Serudong-Simanggaris border conceptual plan by Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority Director of Border Town Planning Mursidi Sapie at Menara Kinabalu here.
Last Friday, Ismail Sabri, at an event in Sandakan, was reported as saying that he would discuss the development at the Sabah-Kalimantan border with Indonesian President Joko Widodo during his visit to the republic.
The prime minister said the discussion will also cover efforts on advancing the border area, including developing the infrastructure, among others. – Bernama, November 9, 2021
