Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Price of giving away resources to Malaya

Oil palm does not give money to Sabah. 60% goes to the
Malaysia(Malayan) government, but they create havocs to our local
environment that local fishermen that rely on rivers and the
environment for a living cannot find ways to provide their income. No
wonder there are more and more poor people in Sabah.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/sabah-and-sarawak/13233-give-us-some-light-and-water-please

'Give us light and water, please'
Wed, 24 Nove 2010 12:08
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By FMT Staff

KOTA KINABALU: Listening to Gum-Gum assemblyman Zakaria Edris' volley
of demands at the recent State Legislative Assembly sitting is telling
of the situation in Sabah. He was asking for better enforcement, clean
water, electricity, and police and fire stations in his constituency
which is barely 45 minutes from Sabah's second largest city, Sandakan.

Rolling off his list of grouses, Zakaria said villagers living along
Sungai Memanjang in his constituency were struggling to make ends meet
following a steady decline in aqua life in the river as a result of
toxic effluence from a neighbouring oil palm mill.

The once "fish-rich" river is now "dead", he said, adding that
complaints to the State Environment Protection Department and the
Federal Environment Department have fallen on deaf ears.

"We have highlighted the issues to the two departments but there had
been no action. Nothing has been done to stop the mill operators and
help the villagers.

"If the mill continues to dump its toxic waste into the river, the
ones who will suffer are the locals.

"These villagers depend on the river for their livelihood. The
government cannot go on ignoring this It must take immediate action.
It must issue a stop order to the mill, " he said.

No water, electricity

Describing clean water as a "basic necessity", he said several
kampungs in his constituency were dependent on well water.

"Many kampungs in my constituency still don't have clean water and
electricity... this is a basic necessity. The state government must
look into this urgently," he said.

Kampung Ulu Dusun, Kampung Sungai Kapoor, Kamung Jaya Bakti, Kampung
Lalason and Kampung Tanjung Pisau are among the villagers which still
depend on well water. During the dry spell, the water dries up leaving
the villagers without clean water.

Kampung Pulau Libaran and Kampung Pulau Pemaguan have no electricity.
The community is dependent on power from a generator. Since the
increase in petrol prices, villagers have been unable to afford
electricity.

Zakaria has proposed that the state government take urgent action to
provide rural villagers with water and electricity.

"I propose that solar energy be introduced in these villagers since
petrol is expensive and generators are not practical," he said.

Rising crime

Early last year, a 16-year-old student was raped, brutally murdered
and dumped in the nearby forest in the constituency.

The incident sent shockwaves through the constituency which was also
riddled with a rising crime rate, said Zakaria.

"We urgently need a police station and a fire station. We don't have
any now. The nearest stations are in Sandakan... 45 minutes away.

"This is too far in case of an accident or emergency. A few years ago
we had a big fire and the by time the firemen came, 30 houses were
burnt down," he said.

Sandakan, on Sabah's east coast, is a known gateway for immigrants.
Over the years shantytowns have emerged creatinga whole range of socio-
economic problems for the state.

In the recent Batu Sapi by-elections, the 16-year-old Barisan Nasional
state government's lack of commitment to infrastructure development
came to the fore when opposition candidate Ansari Abdullah twice
plunged into the sea after the jetty and bridge he was standing on
collapsed.

Early last week, the World Bank Report 2010 reaffirmed a commonly held
belief when it reported that Sabah was the "poorest" state in Malaysia
and is unlikely to move ahead if current policies do not change.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Federal Government clearly discriminates against Sabah

I didn't notice this until I got the World Bank report:
Imagine, Sabah, the poorest in the WORLD, the largest sea shore in
Malaysia, 10 times larger than Pahang and Trengganu combined, many
times the number of fishermen in Pahang and Trengganu, and yet
allocated only RM20 million, much less than Pahang and Trengganu.

And yet, you still belive the title of this article??????
This is not even priority, it is blatant discrimination.

From people who blatantly break international Malaysia agreement, this
is not surprising at all.


http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/bernama-malaysian-national-news-agency/mi_8082/is_20090926/lkim-priority-fishermen-sabah/ai_n51634835/

LKIM GIVES PRIORITY TO FISHERMEN IN SABAH
0 Comments | BERNAMA; Malaysian National News Agency, Sep 26, 2009

from BERNAMA, The Malaysian National News Agency PAPAR, Sept 26
(Bernama) -- Fishermen in Sabah have always been accorded priority by
the government in its bid to uplift the status of traditional
fishermen and transform them into modern fishermen.

The Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM) chairman, Datuk
Abdul Rahim Ismail, said LKIM had allocated RM20 million for the state
this year for infrastructural development including the construction
of new jetties and upgrading the old ones.

"Sabah is one of the states that has been accorded priority after
Pahang and Terengganu. The RM20 million is the third largest
allocation given by the federal government from its total allocation
of RM87 million nationwide.
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"And that does not include annual allocation and other aid and
assistance," he told reporters at his Aidilfitri open house here
today.

Abdul Rahim, who is also Pantai Manis assemblyman, said the allocation
was expected to be fully utilised by December.

Realising that most fishermen in the state were unaware of the
programmes and assistance made available by LKIM, he said the
Agriculture and Agro- based Industry Ministry had also set aside an
allocation of RM300,000 for Sabah to promote the programmes on
billboards statewide.

"Many people are unaware that the programmes to uplift the status of
the fishermen had been implemented for almost 40 years. So, we have
set up promotional billboard in Papar and will do the same in
Bongawan, Sipitang, Kudat, Lahad Datu and Semporna," he explained.

He said LKIM would also produce video clips and multimedia
presentations to promote the programmes to the fishermen in the target
areas.

Copyright 2009 Bernama

Sabahan workers are not lazy

The reason why salaries are so low is because ALL MONEY are siphoned
out of Sabah despite our huge tourism, forestly, palm oil, petroleum
and gas resources. I claimed all, because what was sent back are just
scraps that do not even cover costs, and most are never realised, only
promises of scrap handouts.

Imagine spending RM2 million per year for HARDCORE poverty
eradication. Recently relabelled "poverty eradication".

http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=75908

How our tourism sector is losing

Published on: Sunday, November 21, 2010

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Kota Kinabalu: Sabah is losing many of her best tourism workers to
better paying bosses in the peninsula and Singapore.

While pointing out that more such workers needed to be churned out by
the State to make up for these losses, State Tourism, Culture and
Environment Minister, Datuk Masidi Manjun also underlined the
importance of a system to ensure the workers stay in Sabah.

"We need to up the quality of our human resources in the service
industry.

The problem is that in the tourism industry, our staff are always on
the move because they are constantly being pinched by others.

"(For instance), our hotel employees are constantly being pinched by
West Malaysian hotels and Singaporeans - Singaporeans love Sabahans
because they say they're the best employees.

"We have a tough time retaining them in Sabah. I have said many times
that the hotel owners (in the State) need to re-look their
renumeration package, with a view to improve it because that's the
only way we can retain them," he said.

Speaking to reporters after launching an electronic advertising firm,
Bliss Media and Advertising, here, Saturday, Masidi said "headhunters"
of potential overseas employers were always on the lookout for
hardworking Sabahans.

"The turnover is quite high (although) I can't give the figures but
headhunters are always on the look for Sabahans.

"For instance, the Traders Hotel in Kuala LumpurÉ(about) 60 per cent
of the employees are Sabahans É when they pay twice or more than the
amount of money we are paying here, than obviously they prefer to go
there, you can't stop them."

Asked if this could affect Sabah's aim of ushering 2.5 million tourist
arrivals next year, the Minister said the State could still cope,
barring any world disaster.

"We have to do with what we have. At this point of time, short of
world catastrophe like the H1N1 or bird flu (among others), I believe
we can touch that figure."

In the State 2011 Budget tabled by Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa
Aman on Friday, the State Government will allocate RM116.27 million to
meet the tourist arrival target by further strengthening Sabah as a
main tourist destination.

On the new high quality tourism products also mentioned by Musa in the
State Budget, he pointed out that Sabah was geared towards sustainable
tourism.

"I think the products he was talking about was that we have some of
the most fantastic tropical forests in the world and what he is saying
is we should utilise it.

"That's why he allocated some money to the Forestry Department to
collaborate with us to make full use of nature's best as tourism
products."

A sum of RM9.53 million was allocated to the Forestry Department to
implement programmes related to tourism activities such as promotion
and rehabilitation of forests.

Asked if he was happy about the allocations to his Ministry, Masidi
said: "It's not an issue of being unhappy É I think no Minister is
going to be happy with whatever they are given but it's a question of
getting full value of every Ringgit that you spend.

"We are accountable, not only to the people, but also the fact that we
need to spend the money consistent with the Government's strict
accounting procedures."

There is no planning to eradicate poverty in Sabah

How can there be planning when the BN does not admit there is any
poverty in Sabah that needs to be addressed?

All budgets and plannings assume that Sabah is not that poor, so no
money for Sabah lah!!!

We need world bodies to wake us all up. Even these world bodies are
just damn stupid. It is not projects and reduction of corruptions in
Sabah etc that will eradicate poverty, but JUST GIVE US BACK OUR
MONEY. There were rampant corruptions in SAbah in 1970s and yet Sabah
was among the richest in the world, even without any oil revenue. Now
even with oil resources, oil palm resources, timber resources, Sabah
is still the poorest. Why not if all oil and gas revenue is taken to
Malaya, oil and timber resources are taxed more than 60% by the
federal governments, and most of high paying workers are also from
Malaya.

Even this idiotic professor forgot that SArawak has less
infrastructure than Sabah and yet the World Bank didn't consider
Sarawak as poorer than Sabah. This proves one thing very clearly.
There is a massive outflow of resources out of Sabah to Malaya without
it even being brought back to Sabah. Unlike Sarawak.

The worst thing is that, the Malaysian(Malayan) government does not
even acknowledge that there is that much poverty in Sabah. Keep on
saying that Kelantan is poorer.

Those of you who believe in this BN lies, just go and visit Kelantan
with an open mind, and compare Kelantan with SAbah. Just don't assume
that all these poor places are filipinoes. Many of my inlaws stay in
these places with the immigrants and inter marrying with them.


http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=75898

Sabah poverty not stated in 10MP report: Scholar

Published on: Friday, November 19, 2010

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Kudat: The Tenth Malaysia Plan or RMK-10 (2011-2015) does not indicate
that Sabah has the highest poverty rate.

UKM's Head of the International Relations Division, Centre for Public
and International Relations, Prof. Dr Junaenah Sulehan, said there was
nowehere in the RMK-10 report that said Sabah had the highest poverty
rate.

"That was in the Ninth Malaysia Plan or RMK-9 (2006-2010).

But in the RMK-10, the way they say it, it does not indicate that
Sabah has the highest poverty rate. Because how they count poverty now
is very different," she said.

Prof Dr Junaenah was speaking to Daily Express after presenting her
paper on "Women Empowerment for Sustainable Development" at the
Conference on Women of Substance, a prelude to the State-level Women's
Day celebration, recently.

The Ninth Malaysia Plan registered Sabah's poverty rate at 23pc, which
is relatively high compared with other states.

"It's not just Sabah. No, there are other poor states as well like the
state where I come from (Sarawak). You must understand how they
measure poverty.

"Poverty can be measured by two tools - one is based on income and the
other on aspects like nutrition, health, security and others. RMK-9
has its index on how they calculate the poverty rate. So, basically,
it is based on income.

"But again, you must understand that income is relative which means
people in the rural areas may not have income like what we are having
- a monthly income.

"So, whatever the rural people produce for their food is counted as
income."

From her observation, many factors contribute to Sabah's high poverty
percentage.

"To me, like Sarawak, it is attributed to geographical and distance
factors.

So, when you are very faraway, how can you channel development
programmes?" she asked.

"When I say far, I mean remote areas and some of them are pockets
(small, isolated areas).

"To reach one village and then go to another village, you have to
travel by sampan or boat. That's what I mean."

Prof Dr Junaenah added that the geographical landscape in Sabah and
Sarawak is not the same as that in Semenanjung.

"That's one. I can tell you the simplest factor for poverty.

The term we use in sociology is structural problem.

"When you say structural problem, for a lay person's understanding, it
means institution (that is, an established practice or custom).

"Here, we can say government agency, enforcement and the like.

Is there any co-ordination? Is there co-operation? What we see in this
issue is that in managing our bureaucracy, we always have this
tindaklapis (duplication).

"Yes, we have co-operation but we have no co-ordination.

The Jabatan (Department) co-operate. For example, the Pertanian bagi
funding (Agriculture giving funding), Welfare bagi (giving) funding,
ada e-Kasih (there is e-Kasih).

"But in the end, it doesn't trickle down to the grassroots.

Why? Because each is waiting for the other to act," she contended,
adding that structural problem also relates to political institution.

Sabah BN government promises even more promises to eradicate poverty

Now they use the word poverty, no more hard core poverty, but their
actions of giving zincs indicate that they are only eradicating hard
core poverty. RM2 million for the whole of sabah, also indicate that
it is meant only for hard core poverty.

Allowance of only RM 300 per month is also not poverty eradication,
only hard core poverty eradication.

Poverty is only eradicated if income is above RM1200 per month.

When salaries of BN village heads and other government servants are
still below this level, with difficulties in employing, let alone
paying workers with wages below this poverty level, do you think that
this effort is really sincere?

What the SAbah BN govenrment is more interested is to give away more
and more Sabahan resources for free, such as the gas from Sabah to be
piped for free to Bintulu and later on to Malaya, while Sabah is
forced to borrow even more money to build Coal fired plants at a cost
of 2 Billion RM, while Bakun dam that is much nearer are to be more
economically piped to Malaya at a cost of RM7 billion.

What have actually Sabah got apart from these promises? Any real
money? When even Sukau, the poorest among the poorest in the world,
cannot even get a single allocation, as stated by its BN
representative, do you think all these promises will materialise???

Even the Malaysian agreement, signed internationally had not been
realised, promises of more money for Sabah will not even be
entertained. I think you are dreaming. Yes, they will give you zincs
and water tanks worth RM2 million, after getting RM2 billion from
Sabah.

http://sabahkini.net/v1/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5492:sabah-disputes-poorest-state-tag&catid=35:berita-sabah&Itemid=27

SABAH DISPUTES 'POOREST STATE' TAG PDF Print E-mail
Written by Admin
Tuesday, 16 November 2010 13:28
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By: JOE FERNANDEZ

THE State Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in the Chief Minister's
Department in Kota Kinabalu has a different angle from the World Bank
(WB) on the incidence of poverty in the state.

In the Malaysian Economic Monitor (MEM) report released last
Wednesday, the World Bank noted that Sabah, with 10 percent of the
country's population, had 40 percent of the poor.

Disputing this in a press statement yesterday, the EPU said Sabah is
not the poorest state in Malaysia, although it did not identify the
state concerned.

Sarawak has long been considered the poorest state after Sabah,
followed by Kelantan and Terengganu.

The EPU said that "certain sections of the local media and groups with
vested interests had taken it upon themselves to sensationalise (the
incidence of poverty in Sabah) with wanton disregard for the facts and
truth".

"It's a gross misinterpretation of the MEM report. The report does
mention a significant reduction in poverty in Sabah from 1976-2004,"
said EPU director Ismail Abdullah in elaborating on the statement.

Citing WB figures in the MEM, he stressed that the incidence of
poverty in Sabah has dropped from more than 50 percent in 1976 to 24.2
percent in 2004.

"The WB has described this as an excellent achievement although there
still exist pockets of poverty in Sabah as in Sarawak and other places
in Malaysia," he said.

The incidence of poverty in Sabah, Ismail said, further fell to 16.4
percent in 2007 and this fact was captured by the Household Income
Survey (HIS) carried out by the Statistics Department. It would have
fallen further if not for the financial crisis of 2008/2009.

He blamed the rise in cost of food, fuel and transportation for
setbacks to the hardcore poverty eradication scheme.

Ismail did not differentiate between poverty and hardcore poverty but
pledged that "the state government is targeting to eliminate hardcore
poverty totally by the end of this year".

The mean monthly gross income of Sabah households, according to the
HIS, had increased from RM 2,593 in 2004 to RM 3,102 in 2009, "an
average growth of 5.3 percent which is better than many states in
Malaysia".

Ismail did not comment on the MEM report finding that "people are paid
poor salaries against the job they are doing. Those who are working
may be poor not because they are not working but working in low-paying
jobs".

"HIS indicates that the number of Sabah households enjoying an income
of between RM1,000-1,999 had increased substantially by 2009," he
said.

NKRA goals

Ismail agreed that the MEM was put together by the WB after a working
visit to Sabah in September. He also agreed that the MEM was issued
after the tacit approval and cooperation of the state government in
line with the partnership programme between the WB and the Malaysian
government.

"The partnership saw the WB providing policy analysis and advice as
well as information on member-countries' experience, which included
research and data collection," said Ismail.

Apparently, the WB team also had discussions and consultations with a
cross-section of individuals and groups, both from the private and
public sectors, academicians and NGOs.

The WB team assessed the state's poverty eradication programmes such
as projects under the Mini Estate Sejahtera and the micro credit
scheme under the Yayasan Usaha Maju.

The latter is a state government agency providing small loans to poor
and low-income groups, especially women to allow them to do small-
scale businesses and economic activities that can provide sustainable
incomes for them and their families.

Ismail said that Sabah would step up its poverty eradication efforts,
including agropolitan projects in pockets of poverty like Banggi,
Pitas, Tongod, Kota Belud, Tenom, Sook and Nabawan.

Under the National Key Results Areas (NKRA), the state government will
embark on the development of the basic rural infrastructure in Sabah.
This calls for the construction of 1,020 km of rural roads, and the
provision of electricity and water supplies to 95 percent and 90
percent of the rural folk respectively.

Over 12,000 poor households in the state will get government
assistance in the repair of their existing houses and construction of
new ones.

The NKRA target for Low Income Households, said Ismail, seeks to raise
the income level of the bottom 40 percent of households in the state
through programmes in agriculture, business, jobs and training.

Why only Sabah State government interested in eradicating Hardcore Poverty?

There is no attempt at all to eradicate poverty only Hard core
poverty, so how can poverty be eradicated.

Worst, Sabah state govenment is almost bankrupt, and yet it is the
only body that is interested. The Malaysian(Malayan) government is
not interested at all, despite getting most of the revenue that Sabah
produces, as a result of the generosity of Sabahan BN puppet
government in surrendering all its resources contrary to the Malaysian
agreement.


http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=75274

Sabah not poorest state

Posted on November 15, 2010, Monday

KOTA KINABALU: The State Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Chief
MinisterÕs Department has refuted the news report that Sabah is the
poorest state in the country, saying poverty rate in the state was
reduced from 24.2% in 2004 to 16.4% in 2007.

In a rebuttal issued yesterday, the State EPU said the World Bank had
acknowledged in its Inclusive Growth report on 10 Nov that between
1976 and 2004, the State and Federal Government had made great strides
in poverty reduction, so much so that the number of poor households in
Sabah had been reduced from more than 50% in 1976 to 24.2% by the end
of 2004.

ÒThese are facts which are borne out by official statistics based on
the Household Income Survey (HIS) which is carried out at periodic
intervals by the Department of Statistics.

ÒThe Sabah State EPU also wishes to state the fact that based on the
Household Income Survey, the State Government under Datuk Seri
Panglima Musa Haji Aman had successfully reduced the incidence of
household poverty in Sabah from 24.2% in 2004 to 16.4% in 2007.

ÒIf not for the ensuing financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 and the
resultant increase in the prices of many essential items such as food
and transportation due to the reduction in fuel subsidies, the Sabah
EPU is confident that the incidence of household poverty would have
been reduced much further.

According to the State EPU, the mean monthly gross income of Sabahans
had at the same time increased from RM2,593 in 2004 to RM3,102 in
2009, a very respectable average growth of 5.3% annually for the
period 2004-2009, which is better than many states in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, income distribution data from the HIS also indicated that
for the same period the number of Sabahans enjoying income of between
RM1,000 to RM1,999 had increased substantially by 2009.

The Government is targeting to totally eliminate hardcore poverty by
the end of this year.

ÒIt is regrettable that certain people have chosen to ignore the fact
that even in developed countries, by their own standard measure of
poverty, a substantial proportion of their population remains poor,Ó
it said.

ÒFor example, the CIA World Fact Book, an often cited reference
document, has stated that in 2004, 12% of the population of the United
States and 14% of that of the United Kingdom in 2006 live below their
respective poverty line and thus classified as poor.

ÒDo these make United Kingdom and United States poor countries or
poorest amongst the developed countries which perform better than them?
Ó

The State EPU said the World Bank team in the course of the
preparation for the Inclusive Growth report had made a working visit
to Sabah in September 2010 and had had discussions and consultations
with a cross section of individuals and groups in Sabah both from the
private and public sector including academics and NGOs.

ÒThe World Bank team had also visited and assessed the state poverty
eradication programmes such as projects under the Mini Estate
Sejahtera (MESEJ) program and the microcredit scheme under Yayasan
Usaha Maju, a State Government agency providing small loans to the
poor and low income group especially women to allow them to do small
scale businesses and economic activities that can provide sustainable
incomes for them and their families.

ÒIt is a fact that the World Bank was impressed with these programmes,
the tremendous success in the reduction of poverty in Sabah and the
State GovernmentÕs dedication and continuing efforts to eradicate
poverty in Sabah.Ó

It said that other than the poverty eradication programmes mentioned
earlier such as MESEJ, the State Government is presently undertaking
many other poverty programmes aimed at not only raising the income of
the poor but also ensuring a better quality of life for poor families
in both rural and urban areas especially in housing, education and
health.

The State Government has embarked on the implementation of the
AGROPOLITAN projects in areas with pockets of poverty in Sabah such as
Banggi, Pitas, Tongod, Kota Belud, Tenom and Sook/Nabawan under the
9th Malaysia Plan.

On completion these Agropolitan projects would significantly
contribute to reducing poverty further in Sabah.

Likewise, the Federal Government had also embarked on the
implementation of the six National Key Results Areas (NKRAs)
(2010-2012).

One of these is the NKRA pertaining to the development of Rural Basic
Infrastructures in Sabah.

The plan calls for the construction of 1,020 kilometres of rural
roads, provision of electricity and water supply to ensure that 95%
and 90% of rural folks in Sabah obtain these services, and
construction of new houses and repair of existing ones involving
12,494 of poor households.

Meanwhile, the NKRA for Low Income Households had set target to raise
income level of the bottom 40 % of households through the 1ZAM
programs in four main areas Ð agriculture, business, jobs and
training.

The State EPU expressed confidence that with all these untiring
efforts and dedication to development, Sabah will definitely prosper
and on track to become a developed state, where the fruits of
development will be shared equitably by all Sabahans.

Sabah remains the poorest in the world

Why Sabah BN government want to apologise?
It gave away its revenues to the Federal government while getting much
less in return, contrary to the Malaysia agreement.

After all, violating the Malaysian Agreement has been the routine
practise for the BN government.


http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/sabah-and-sarawak/12870-humiliated-sabah-govt-slams-poverty-report


Humiliated Sabah govt slams 'poverty' report
Mon, 15 Nove 2010 13:23
E-mail Print

By Michael Kaung

KOTA KINABALU: An embarrased 16-year-old Barisan Nasional administered
Sabah state government is furious at the recent World Bank report
which placed Sabah as the poorest state in Malaysia.

Lashing out at 'the facts', the Sabah Chief Minister's Department
(CMD) said that the World Bank's 2010 Malaysia Economic Monitor (MEM)
Report was grossly 'misinterepreted' and the content sensationalised.

The State Ecnomic Planning Unit (EPU) in a statement said its was
'disappointed' that the 'fact on poverty in Sabah was twisted.'

Said EPU director Ismail Abdullah: "It is a gross misinterpretation …

"The EPU, as the state's central planning agency, is disappointed
because the fact on poverty in Sabah was twisted and used to downgrade
the state government's image even though the state administration
under the leadership of Chief Minister Musa Aman is really committed

to developing Sabah and reducing poverty incidence," he said.

Ismail highlighted the fact that the MEM report also mentioned the
significant decrease in the incidence of poverty in Sabah between
1976-2004.

He said his boss, Musa, 'was in control' when the Statistics
Department figures showed that the incidence of household poverty had
gone down from 24.2% in 2004 to 16.4% in 2007.

Ismail also blamed the financial crisis of 2008/2009 and the increase
in the price of many essential items due to the reduction of fuel
subsidies, for the continued high incidence of household poverty.

He said the mean monthly gross income of Sabahans had infact increased
from RM2,593 in 2004 to RM3,102 in 2009 or 5.3% annually during the
period while the number of Sabahans enjoying an income of between
RM1,000 and RM1,999 had increased substantially by 2009.

Ending poverty

Ismail also drew attention to Tawau district, on the east coast of the
state, which was recently declared poverty free by Musa.

He said the state government has targetted the elimination of hardcore
poverty by the end of this year.

Ismail backed his argument by citing figures published in the CIA
World Fact Book which stated that in 2004, 12% of the population of
the United States and 14% of that in the United Kingdom lived below
their respective poverty line and thus were classified as poor.

"Do these (figures) make United Kingdom and United States poor
countries or poorest amongst the developed countries which perform
better than them?" he asked.

The World Bank report released last week painted a different picture
of the state from the cheery outlook of the EPU boss.

The report quoted the bank's East Asia and Pacific Region Human
Development Sector director Emmmanuel Jimenez as saying that there
were "deep pockets of poverty here in Sabah."

Jimenez who was in Kota Kinabalu to present the report last Wednesday
had also reportedly said:"Sabah has about 10% of the Malaysian
population but more than 40% of all poor people in Malaysia live in
Sabah."

The report however noted that when comparing the figure to that of
Selangor, which has about 25% of the population, the percentage of
poor people was less than 10%.

"Whatever poor people remaining in Malaysia, many of them are here in
Sabah and most of them live in the rural areas … groups such as the
Rungus, Suluk and Orang Sungai … according to the statistics … they
remain very high," Jumenez told reporters present.

"I would imagine that once you move away from the coastal areas to the
interior, the poverty rates remain very high," he added.

Jimenez also noted that what most people arriving in the state capital
or other towns in the state noted immediately was its apparent wealthy
state. But this, he hinted, was a mere sheen.

"Just from our own experience coming from the airport to the hotel,
you don't see poverty but the statistics say there's a lot and there
are huge disparities."

Low salaries

He also pointed out Malaysia's vision of a prosperous country through
productivity could be affected because workers are paid poor salaries.

"Those who are working maybe poor not because they are not working
(hard) but working in low-paying jobs. So the question is how to
increase productivity?" he asked.

The World Bank report recommended a three-pronged approach to raising
the living standards of the people living under grinding poverty in
the state.

It stressed that the government must strengthen the investment climate
and revitalise the labour markets; promote investment in human capital
by improving education and provide well-targetted social protection to
help those who cannot help themselves.

World bank states that Sabah is the poorest State in Malaysia

Certainly not Kelantan as stated by BN government since 1996 when I
visited Kelantan.
I beg to differ even in those days. Now not only UNHDP stated it in
2006, the situation remains the same in 2010, as verified by the World
Bank, another independent world body.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/politics/sabah-and-sarawak/13068--kit-siang-wants-royal-inquiry-on-sabah-poverty

Kit Siang wants royal inquiry on Sabah poverty
Sat, 20 Nove 2010 10:03
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By Queville To

KOTA KINABALU: DAP is calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to
investigate how Sabah, which was once a rich state, had crashed to a
point that it was now the "poorest" in Malaysia and is "likely to stay
that way for a considerable length of time".

In making the call, party adviser Lim Kit Siang also asked how the
government had allowed the state to become the poorest in the country
if there was "inclusive growth".

Lim was commenting on a World Bank Report last week which noted that
40% of Malaysia's poor were centred in Sabah, making it the poorest
state in the country.

The embarrassing disclosure has since sent state officials helter-
skelter looking for arguments to counter the report, which has
triggered an uproar against the state government.

Lim said the exhaustive report has exposed the lie that there was
"inclusive growth" in the country.

"Sabah should not have become the poorest state… it was once one of
the richest states before entering into Malaya, together with Sarawak,
to form Malaysia, 47 years ago.

"As emphasised in the official report, 'inclusive growth', means
benefiting every Sabahan and Malaysian and not just a handful of
people. It has been the key objective of the government of Malaysia
since Independence.

"This (report) is an indictment of the government that after 47 years
it has failed to fulfil its promises to the people of Sabah," he told
reporters here yesterday.

Eradication on wrong track

Lim said it was alarming that the World Bank's Human Development
Sector had found that "Sabah is not only the poorest state in
Malaysia, but is likely to stay that way for a considerable length of
time given current efforts on poverty eradication".

"This means that Sabah will not only be the poorest state in Malaysia
but will continue to be the poorest unless there is a total change in
policy," he said, adding that the economic plan in Sabah was neither
balanced nor fair nor equitable nor sustainable for all Sabahans.

Lim said that though the government might have tried for years to
eradicate poverty, it was obviously on the wrong track as the report
showed that Sabahans would continue to struggle to make ends meet,
especially those living in the rural areas.

He said that a Royal Commission of Inquiry should be formed to further
probe on whether the guarantees given to Sabah and Sarawak in 1963
when they agreed to establish Malaysia had been fulfilled.

"Both Sabah and Sarawak could be as developed as Peninsular Malaysia.
That was what they had hoped but it is clear now that the hope has not
been fulfilled."

Lim said that since DAP alone could not force the setting up of such a
commission, it is urging all Sabah BN Members of Parliament to give
their full support to determine why Sabah has remained in the
backwaters.

Also present at the press conference yesterday were Sabah DAP chairman-
cum-Kota Kinabalu MP Hiew King Cheu, Sri Tanjung assemblyman Jimmy
Wong and DAP national publicity assistant secretary Teo Nie Ching.

Introduction

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