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Plan seriously for flood mitigation – Jeffrey - The Borneo Post Online Berita Sabah - News 2 Sabah

Plan seriously for flood mitigation – Jeffrey - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 15 Jan 2014 09:42 AM PST

KOTA KINABALU: The increasing incidents of flash floods all over Sabah is a worrying trend and actions need to be taken by the Sabah government to solve the problems of causation so as to reduce the problems.

STAR Sabah chief Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan made the call when commenting on rising flood incidents in Sabah and losses from the floods and the announcement by the Prime Minister that RM480 million will be spent for flood mitigation in Kemaman and another RM700 million in Pahang.

Lately, the floods in Sabah have been creating havoc with the lives of those affected and caused untold damage to properties and crops and livestock.

The heavy downpour earlier yesterday morning had caused serious flash floods at Tenghilan town and the town field in Kota Belud. Many low-lying areas, including several schools, were also affected. They also caused landslides along the Tamparuli-Kiulu and Penampang-Tambunan roads making them impassable to traffic.

Jeffrey said the flood problems in Sabah were compounded by the lack of attention and denial of flood aid from the federal government.

"Sabahans get nothing at all while their counterparts in the Peninsular get multiple aid, including television sets and refrigerators up to RM5,000 per family, excluding other federal cash aid," he said.

Regardless of flood aid or not, Jeffrey said the Sabah government need to seriously look into the causes of the floods, including flash floods and the Sabah Public Works Department and Irrigation and Drainage Department need to come up with flood mitigation programs.

According to him, the planning authorities and local governments should also ensure that new development projects need to be scrutinized to cover drainage issues to avoid flash floods arising from the new developments.

Even simple flood mitigation steps such as clearing of clogged drains, deepening of rivers and waterways and building of diversion drains need to be carried out periodically.

While Kota Kinabalu may not reach the stage of requiring a stormwater drainage system like the SMART Tunnel in Kuala Lumpur, it may need additional drainage retention ponds to divert the additional water during heavy rains.

Once the flood mitigation programs are charted, the Sabah government need to seek the funding for these projects from the federal government and at the same time make public disclosures of the projects.

Jeffrey also urged the Sabah government to work towards a plan to secure exemption of goods service tax (GST) in Sabah.

"There is every basis for Sabah and for the matter Sarawak to be exempted from the imposition of GST which is scheduled to commence in 2015," he said in reiterating his earlier stand that the two states should be exempted from GST.

Recently, KPMG Malaysia had suggested that salaries should be increased by at least 6% following the federal government's decision to impose GST in 2015. This is to help the people tide over the higher cost of living.

In Sabah, the recent price hikes caused by government policies in reducing petrol and sugar subsidies and increase of electricity tariffs have resulted in more than 10% across the board price increases. With the GST imposition and inflation, the cost of living will probably be higher by 15% to 20% in 2015.

Even without the recent price hikes and the GST, Sabahans are already burdened with much higher costs due to the crippling cabotage policy.

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I-Kad fee idea not going down well in <b>Sabah</b> - The Borneo Post Online

Posted: 14 Jan 2014 11:09 AM PST

by Jenne Lajiun. Posted on January 15, 2014, Wednesday

KOTA KINABALU: The RM110 fee for the proposed i-Kad for foreign workers in the country has not gone down well with those affected.

An expatriate residing in Sabah, Marcomini Romeni, sees the move as a means for the government to make more money and alleges that it probably won't reduce the presence of illegal immigrants in the country.

He said that the foreign levy charged in the country was more expensive than that charged in neighbouring Singapore.

"When I worked there, I was charged SGD75 for the foreign workers pass. As long as you have the necessary qualifications, they will issue you a foreign workers pass in Singapore," he said.

He added that a card is issued for foreign workers in Singapore and the cost is included in the SGD75 fee.

Marcomini said he has no idea yet as to how he should go about making an application for himself and his foreign workers for his factory here.

"Such issues must be attended to promptly for the smooth running of my factory," he said.

Meanwhile, DAP Sabah secretary, Dr Edwin Bosi, criticised the extra cost being imposed on employers of foreign workers in the country.

"I am just fed up with the government on this issue on foreign workers. So many fees have been imposed on employers and foreign workers. Now another one!

"Why don't the employers just issue cards to their workers? If they are caught, they have proof of their employment and the authorities can call the respective employers for verification. If they don't have any legal employment, then just biometric them and send them home," Dr. Bosi suggested.

Property developer, Denis Tan, also lamented the government's move.

"I don't suffer but my contractor is the one facing the brunt of the government's move to introduce the extra expenses for employing foreigners," he said, adding that this was because the contractors have to pay an extra RM110 for each foreign worker.

"They already have to fork out a high expense for the work pass/workers levy for their foreign workers to the immigration (department) and now they have to pay even more," he said.

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