GRS government to work harder to bring progress in 2022

KOTA KINABALU: The Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) State Government is on the right track to bring progress to Sabah and its people despite challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor.
“The pandemic has brought many challenges but we have done our best to handle them including economic and health crises for close to two years,” he said.
“The State Government has not wavered in putting our development plans into action even during the crisis and and we look forward to push ahead fervently in 2022 to ensure that our development agenda as outlined in the Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) and State 2022 Budget will proceed smoothly,” Hajiji said.
Hajiji said the state’s five-year Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) development plan under the GRS State Government kicked off successfully in March of this year which saw the signing of three major investments worth RM10 billion namely the Lok Kawi Resort City, a copper foil manufacturing plant and high yielding integrated coconut project.
“All these are very important and will bring a huge impact for the people of Sabah and the state’s economy,” he said in his 2021 Christmas and New Year 2022 message.
He said the State Government has been relentlessly pursuing more high impact investments and discussions are still on going between several investors and the State Government to bring investments into Sabah, adding that Sabah is also on the right track to becoming an investor database centre for Asean in line with the GRS government’s Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya development framework,” he said.
“Once these investment proposals have been finalised, it will help to re-stimulate the growth of our state’s economy to bring benefits to the rakyat and state,” he said.
The Chief Minister also expressed gratitude to the people of Sabah for their trust and continued support to the GRS State Government to lead and develop the state and called on them to continue keeping peace and stability intact so that Sabah can attract potential investors to the state.
The recent unanimous passing of the Federal Constitution Amendment Bill 2021 in Parliament was a momentous and significant milestone which will paved the way for full restoration of Sabah’s right under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
The Chief Minister said several other demands from Sabah have been successfully resolved through the Special Council on MA63, adding that devolution of power to Sabah for issuance of deep-sea fishing license was one of the proofs that Sabah’s rights and privileges, as provided for under the MA63, were acknowledged.
To cap a productive year, Hajiji said another success was the signing of the Commercial Collaboration Agreement (CCA) between PETRONAS and the State Government to mark a new era in Sabah’s oil and gas industry.
This resulted in the formation of the SMJ Petroleum Sdn Bhd, Sabah’s wholly-owned oil and gas company, he said, adding that the State Government was also in the midst of finalising the Sabah Gas Masterplan with PETRONAS to be launched soon.
Hajiji hoped the Christmas celebrations will strengthen unity, religious tolerance and respect among Sabah’s multi-racial and multi-religious communities.
“Let us set aside our differences and focus on values that unite us, not divide,” he said. The Chief Minister wishes everyone a safe Merry Christmas and New Year 2022.