Statement by Warisan President Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal
KOTA KINABALU: I wish to address the recent statement by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor claiming that Sabah’s economy is growing. This claim does not reflect the actual situation on the ground and the struggles faced daily by our people.
Sabah’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023 stood at RM83.2 billion which is still lower than the RM85.6 billion achieved in 2019 when Warisan was in government. This makes Sabah the only state in Malaysia that has not recovered to its pre-pandemic economic level.
Data by the Department of Statistics Malaysia shows that Sabah’s economy grew faster under the Warisan government (2018–2020) than it has under the current GRS administration.
In 2019, during Warisan’s time in office, Sabah’s GDP reached RM85.6 billion, the highest ever recorded for the state.
This was a clear improvement from RM79.7 billion in 2017, showing strong growth over two years. However, after the change in government in 2020, the economy shrank.
Sabah’s GDP fell to RM77.8 billion in 2020. By 2023, it only recovered to RM83.2 billion, which is still RM2.45 billion lower than in 2019.
At the same time, unemployment has worsened significantly. In 2019, there were 114,300 unemployed individuals in Sabah. By 2023, this number had surged to 165,600 which is an Increase of more than 50,000.
This shows that job creation under the current GRS-led government has been insufficient to meet the needs of Sabahans.
During Warisan’s administration from 2018 to 2020, we ensured that Sabah’s economy grew every year even during the challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic. In just over two years, Warisan achieved measurable progress in economic development.
By contrast, GRS has now been in government for more than four years but has failed to deliver similar outcomes.
One of our key economic strategies was to build downstream industries, so that Sabah would no longer be just an exporter of raw materials, but a producer of higher-value goods. This approach was to ensure Sabah’s wealth stayed within the state and benefitted our people.
Under Warisan, several initiatives were successfully launched:
BESS Cooking Oil (Tawau): This factory, launched in early 2020 by Benta Wawasan Sdn Bhd (a subsidiary of Yayasan Sabah), marked Sabah’s first locally produced cooking oil brand.
It produces 2,000 metric tonnes of cooking oil every month, providing jobs and reducing reliance on West Malaysian brands.
GOLD Cooking Oil (Sandakan): A joint venture between Sawit Kinabalu and Intipati Minyak Sdn Bhd, the GOLD factory was built to process crude palm oil into consumer-ready products by adding value locally instead of exporting it raw.
Onsoi Cooking Oil (Keningau): Operated by Sabah Land Development Berhad (SLDB) through Sabaras Sdn Bhd, this facility was inaugurated in September 2020 to provide affordable cooking oil to rural communities while generating local employment.
These projects were part of Warisan’s long-term plan to shift Sabah’s economy from just relying on raw materials to creating better jobs and more business opportunities for Sabahans.
Furthermore, despite limited funds, the Warisan government fully paid off a RM1 billion bond left by the previous Barisan Nasional government even before it was due in 2019.
This showed our strong commitment to managing the state’s finances responsibly, even during tough global conditions. (The bond was issued by the Sabah state government in 2014 and scheduled to mature on 9 December, 2019.)
Unfortunately, after Warisan was removed from government, this momentum was lost. The GRS government has failed to continue or build on these initiatives.
For example, POIC Lahad Datu remains largely underutilised. Rather than becoming a centre of palm oil processing and industrial growth, it is now mainly used for warehousing and logistics.
The Kimanis petrochemical hub, once envisioned as a game-changer for Sabah’s oil and gas industry, has stalled. There have been no major updates or investments announced since 2020.
Meanwhile, Sabah’s role in the oil and gas sector continues to be limited to merely collecting sales tax from petroleum products and there has been no serious effort made to enter refining, petrochemicals, or high-value manufacturing.
The GRS government continues to rely on raw resource extraction without investing in value-added processing or sustainable economic diversification.
While they speak of plans and federal allocations, the numbers show that the Sabah economy is stagnating. Many of our youths still cannot find work. Many families are still struggling to earn enough to just get by with their lives.
I urge the people of Sabah to judge their leaders not by promises or headlines, but by real, measurable outcomes.
Warisan remains committed to building a just, united, and economically empowered Sabah. We want our natural wealth to benefit Sabahans first. We believe in policies that deliver real change, not empty slogans.
Real economic success means more jobs, better incomes, and a secure future for our children and not abandoned projects or recycled announcements.
