KOTA KINABALU: A Regional Development Authority (RDA) will be set up to manage the new border township at Serudong, Kalabakan that will be one of the four entry points from Kalimantan, Indonesia to Sabah.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said the proposal for the setting up of the Sabah Maju Jaya Serudong Regional Development Authority will be tabled during the State 2022 Budget Assembly sitting in December.
Describing the RDA as a catalyst for growth at Serudong, Hajiji said the State Government is committed to ensure that the border township will be developed as planned, in anticipation of major development 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.
Hajiji said Sabah – Kalimantan border developments will be among the talking points when the Prime Minister meet up with Indonesia President Joko Widodo during his upcoming visit to the republic.
The other entry points are at Long Pasia, Pagalungan and Sebatik.
Briefing the Chief Minister and members of the Sabah Economic Advisory Council on the Serudong (Malaysia) – Simanggaris (Indonesia) border conceptual plan at the Menara Kinabalu near here today, Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA) Director of Border Town Planning, TPr Haji Mursidi Sapie said among the RDA’s functions are to act as the local authority as well as overseeing infrastructure, economic and social developments.
Also at the meeting were State Secretary Datuk Seri Panglima Sr Safar Untong, State Public Service Department Director-General Datuk Datu Rosmadi Sulai and SEDIA President and Chief Executive Officer Datuk Seri Panglima Hashim Paijan.
