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RM1.4 billion disbursed for <b>Sabah</b> Development Corridor projects <b>...</b> Berita Sabah - News 2 Sabah

RM1.4 billion disbursed for <b>Sabah</b> Development Corridor projects <b>...</b>

Posted: 25 Mar 2014 06:19 PM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: Disbursements for projects in the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) for the 2008-2014 period under the Ninth and Tenth Malaysia Plans are currently at RM1.4 billion.

This is 85.3 per cent of the total federal government allocation of RM1.634 billion received by the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (Sedia) as at the end of February this year.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said by the first quarter of 2014, RM128 billion in investments had been planned and committed to, and of this, about RM38 billion had been realised.

"This is also since the launch of the SDC in 2008.

"We are expecting the investment momentum in the SDC to continue gathering pace, especially with the attention of global investors shifting to Asia, and economic recovery in the United States and the European Union," he said this in his opening remarks at the 15th meeting of members of Sedia at its office here yesterday.

Musa, who also Sabah Finance Minister and Sedia chairman, added that the authority had been in operation for five years and almost all of the SDC flagship projects are taking shape.

He called on implementing agencies to ensure that development projects are carried out according to schedule, meet the desired quality and produce the targeted outcome.

"This will not only win the confidence of the people on the seriousness of the government in developing the state, but also do the same among investors to expedite the Economic Transformation Programme," he said.

Musa added domestic investments are playing a critical role in ensuring the success of the SDC.

"It is indeed timely that the federal and state governments are giving emphasis to the participation of domestic investors, including the development of Bumiputera entrepreneurs, SMEs and start-ups.

"I am pleased to note that Sedia has launched several initiatives to support the development of SMEs and start-ups.

"Sedia has been collaborating with Teraju through the TERAJU@SDC programme to support Bumiputera entrepreneurs.

"It has also worked closely with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation for 1Agro-SAIP programme and with agencies under its umbrella such as Biotech Corp, MIMOS, Agro-Biotechnology and Sirim to further boost knowledge-intensive initiatives," he added.

In the oil, gas and energy sector, Musa said Petronas has been a major driver of SDC projects with investments in a gas-fired power plant, the Sabah Ammonia and Urea (Samur) in Sipitang, Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal and the Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline project.

"Other major domestic investors include Suria Capital Holdings Bhd, Warisan Harta Sabah Sdn Bhd, Sawit Kinabalu Bhd, Innoprise Corporation, Sabah Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO) and the Sabah Land Development Board," he added. – Bernama

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<b>Sabah</b> needs 24,000 skilled workers towards 2020 – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 10:34 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah needs more than 24,000 skilled and semi-skilled labour for various sectors in this state towards year 2020.

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the gap between demand and supply for skilled labour was widening and it would be unwise to rely heavily on foreign workers to meet the demand.

"Sabah is currently producing 8,000 skilled graduates each year but the current demand requires 24,000 more workers within the next six years," he said in his keynote address at the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) Innovation Public Forum here, yesterday.

The one-day forum was jointly organised by the Institute for Development Studies (Sabah) and Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (Sedia).

Musa, who is also Sabah Finance Minister, said the youth especially must take the opportunities in this forum to understand local cultures and the needs of their nation, yet possess a global orientation.

"This forum provides a discussion platform on how Sabah can attract and nurture talent that can create more opportunities, and are innovative," he said.

He also stressed that industry players and decision makers must work together to produce a qualified pool of human capital that matched the needs of the market.

"We can also look at examples from other countries, including Singapore which has made significant efforts in human capital to prepare them to face the changing demands of the job markets," Musa said.

Earlier, Institute for Development Studies (Sabah) executive director/chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Hasnol Ayub said the local skills training centres in Sabah still needed to produce additional skilled workers to meet the growing demand by 2020.

"The Federal of Accredited Department of Skills Development Malaysia (FeMAC) reported that Sabah needs an additional 16,000 skilled workers annually to meet the growing demand by 2020.

"More jobs will be made available to youths with a total of 143,700 jobs to be created by the SDC. Out of that, 29,611 would be in the agriculture industry, 23,122 in the oil and gas sector, 15,891 in the tourism industry and 12,201 in the palm oil industry," he said. — Bernama

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<b>Sabah</b> no longer haven for cheap labour – SEDIA – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 11:29 AM PDT

by Nancy Lai. Posted on March 25, 2014, Tuesday

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA) chief executive Datuk Dr Mohd Yaakub Johari yesterday disclosed that Sabah had passed the development stage where the state attracted investments due to the availability of cheap labour.

"We need to recognize that our ability to transform into a high income economy will depend on our ability to generate adequate human capital and an adaptable labour force with higher skills, talent, expertise and knowledge.

"Sabah indeed can no longer be a haven for cheap labour," he said at the SDC Innovation Public Forum jointly organised by the Institute for Development Studies Sabah (IDS) and SEDIA.

Mohd Yaakub in his speech also said that according to the Department of Statistics, unemployment in Sabah was relatively low at about 5.4 per cent in 2012.

"There were only about 85,300 unemployed citizens in Sabah in 2012. This is indeed a small figure in comparison to the number of foreign labour in Sabah, especially those in the plantation and construction sectors.

"What is very much needed now is to locate where these unemployed citizens are and ascertain their qualifications as well as skills level to enable them to be trained so that they could provide a pool of human capital geared to drive the economic transformation program," he pointed out.

According to him, to meet the human capital requirement of Sabah, SEDIA has been undertaking a concerted effort to visit and discuss with higher learning institutions locally as well as overseas on academic and research and development collaborations as well as enticing these higher learning institutions to consider setting up campuses in Sabah in particular to meet investor requirements in SDC projects in line with the Key Focus areas.

This initiative will be further intensified as SEDIA embarks on the third and final phase of SDC with emphasis on accelerating sustainable growth through the provision of adaptable human capital and dedicated infrastructure, he stressed.

Mohd Yaakub said that the key focus areas during the second phase of SDC following the alignment with the National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) under the ETP are tourism, palm oil, agriculture, oil and gas, education and manufacturing/logistics.

In addition, he disclosed five focus areas have been identified to turn greater Kota Kinabalu into a strong, vibrant and liveable city.

These include the development and modernization of Kota Kinabalu into a lifestyle hub with more tourism attractions, improvement in mobility and travel, boosting the public and private healthcare which will help stimulate health tourism and improvement of early childcare education, he said.

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<b>Sabah</b> still needs local skills training centres – IDS – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 11:28 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: Institute for Development Studies (Sabah) executive director, Datuk Mohd Hasnol Ayub yesterday said local skills training centres are still needed in Sabah to produce additional skilled workers to meet the growing demand by 2020.

According to him, the Federation of Accredited Department of Skills Development Malaysia (FeMAC) has reported that Sabah needs an additional 16,000 skilled workers annually to meet the growing demand by 2020.

Youths would have more employment opportunities with the 143,700 jobs to be created by the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC), he said at the SDC Innovation Public Forum jointly organised by the Institute for Development Studies Sabah (IDS) and Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA), which was officially opened by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.

Mohd Hasnol added that out of the 143,700 job opportunities, 29,611 would be in the agriculture sector, 23,122 in the oil and gas sector, 15,891 in the tourism industry and 12,201 in the palm oil industry.

He pointed out that the Malaysian government has been fully committed in its efforts to transform the country into a high-income nation.

In terms of training institutions, other than universities, the government also provides other skills training institutes such as the Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), National Youth Skills Institute (IKBN), Agricultural Institutes (Sabah Lima Agricultural Institutes) and Institute Kemahiran MARA.

These institutes, he said, offered different fields of skills for industrial workers, agricultural entrepreneurs, technical and also in business industry.

"As all of you are aware, the main objective of this forum is to explore and get feedback from all stakeholders on ways to enhance the quality and skills of human capital in Sabah. We believe this forum is crucial as it serves as an important avenue for stakeholders to share views on the current situation of the quality of our human capital and the future needs of Sabah," he said.

Mohd Hasnol added that there is an urgent need to explore the state's human capital capability in various disciplines to match the demand of the job market and industries in the state.

"As we move forward in our mission to achieve the objective of the New Economic Model (NEM), to reach high income status by 2020, our human capital will have to be ready to meet the expectations of the growing industries in Malaysia and Sabah," he said.

According to Mohd Hasnol, effective and efficient human capital planning is crucial for economic development and economic prosperity of a country.

"Dublin and our neighbor Singapore are two inspiring examples of how effective and efficient human capital planning have successfully contributed to their countries' economic prosperity," he stressed.

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<b>Sabah</b> Forestry exploring conservation partnership with Nature <b>...</b>

Posted: 21 Mar 2014 09:29 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: A delegation from The Nature Conservancy (TNC) headed by Mr Jack Hurd, the deputy director for Asia Pacific region and several other accompanying officials from its global offices had just concluded a three-day visit (March 11-13) to Sabah with the view to explore potential collaboration in support of the State's conservation agenda.

Their visit is a follow-up from Sabah Forestry Director Datuk Sam Mannan's visit to the United States last year, and is in response to the call by the Sabah Government for partnerships to further enhance the State's conservation agenda and green economy endeavour.

In the meeting with the Sabah Forestry Department, which was held on March 12, this year at the department's headquarters, both parties had a fruitful discussion on possible ways forward in line with TNC's Global Conservation Framework.

Also present in the meeting was Ms Cynthia Ong of LEAP who has been lobbying in the United States for TNC's direct involvement in Sabah since 2006.

Cynthia and several key members of the Forever Sabah team have also shared with the TNC, the concept and the first wave projects under the

"Forever Sabah" initiative.

TNC, in the meeting, highlighted that its engagement in any conservation of landscapes must involve lands that are of global significance, partners with strong political leadership, strong institutions with enforceable regimes, and partnerships with identifiable revenue streams.

With these requirements, their three-day mission to Sabah is to develop a better sense of the resource management issues in the State, gauge the interests and priorities of the State Government, and consider types and opportunities of partnerships under their existing regional progamme.

During their visit, the delegation from TNC conducted an aerial reconnaissance of Deramakot and the main conservation corridors, that is, the recently gazetted Mount Magdelena Class 1 Forest Reserve adjoining Maliau Basin and Imbak with Danum Valley and greater Ulu Segama-Malua forest reserves.

The delegation had also met up with the long-term forest licensees and relevant non-governmental organizations in the State, in the last leg of their

visit, to hear their perspectives on issues and involvement in conservation efforts in the state.

During the discussions, the TNC delegation expressed its pleasant surprise, that the Danum Valley-Maliau-Imbak Conservation corridor still has magnificent pristine forests and a healthy belt of regenerating buffer zone forests.

TNC is a charitable environmental organisation founded in the United States in 1951. With the mission to "conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends", TNC with a total workforce of about 4,500 (including 550 scientists) currently works in more than 40 countries with an annual budget of USD1 billion.

To date, TNC had saved about 120 million acres of lands and 5000 km of rivers worldwide.

The Forestry Department is optimistic that the visit by the TNC, will lead to long term collaboration programmes, in the promotion and support of conservation of bio-diversity and vital landscapes in Sabah.

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<b>Sabah</b> Parks investigating mass slaughter of turtles – BorneoPost <b>...</b>

Posted: 24 Mar 2014 11:27 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Parks is making a thorough investigation on the mass slaughter of turtles report on Pulau Tiga, located at the northern side of Balambangan-Banggi channel.

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said he would wait for the department to finish its investigation before deciding further.

Masidi was responding to the recent report featuring Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) researcher-lecturer Dr James Alin, who claimed to have seen more than 60 carcasses of sea turtles at the northern eastern tip of Pulau Tiga.

Dr James said villagers had alleged that they had alerted authorities about sea poaching for years but were dismissed as rumours.

He also claimed that he received a tip-off from a fishing business owner in Kudat about the poaching activities and the sea turtles were slaughtered for meat to be sold to fishing vessel from China and Vietnam across the Balabac Strait.

Live adults sea turtles can be sold for as much as RM2,000 while juveniles can be sold for RM1,300, he said.

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