KOTA KINABALU: A political economist has suggested that Putrajaya give Sabah a special budget to help the state profit from Indonesia’s relocation of its capital to Kalimantan.
“If you have a big brother behind you, you can show you are capable,” he said. “The chief minister can go there and say, ‘Look, we have these plans and a budget.’” “We need to develop downstream industries, and there needs to be a budget specifically for this. The more downstream industries you develop, the more job opportunities you create.”
He also said Sabah needed more money for infrastructure development than had been allocated in previous budgets. “These are fantastic ideas, but how do you achieve your aims if the enablers, which are the schools and associated infrastructure, are not there in the first place?