State-Federal intervention in poverty fight
Published on: Wednesday, April 24, 2024
By: Larry Ralon
Ewon said the achievement of foreign investment with a total value of RM26.7 billion in the two years from 2021 to 2023, as well as the hardcore poor reduction from 22,150 to 12,555 households, are two big achievements that should be appreciated and proud of. - FMT pic
KADAMAIAN Assemblyman Datuk Ewon Benedick, who is also Federal Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister, said his Ministry (Kuskop) and the Sabah Maju Jaya Secretariat (SSMJ) would discuss interventions to deal with hardcore poverty incidents in Sabah.
He said the discussion was to formulate suggestions for entrepreneurial and educational interventions to deal with poverty and complement initiatives that had been planned.
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“I would like to express my commitment to continue working together to develop the entrepreneurship sector through the Sabah State Entrepreneurship Development Coordinating Committee as requested by the Head of State.
“Kuskop will follow up on this mandate with the State Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry for the development of the micro, small and medium enterprise community (PMKS) and cooperatives in Sabah,” he said.
Ewon said the achievement of foreign investment with a total value of RM26.7 billion in the two years from 2021 to 2023, as well as the hardcore poor reduction from 22,150 to 12,555 households, are two big achievements that should be appreciated and proud of.
“In my opinion, we not only need to attract foreign direct investment to Sabah but also provide premises, financing, guidance and promotion programmes to the PMKS community.
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“I believe that the entrepreneurship movement, the cooperative movement and the education movement can bring out the poor families in Sabah apart from housing assistance and welfare,” he said.
He appreciated the State Government’s agreement to establish a Joint Coordination Committee to coordinate dozens of agencies and departments related to the function of entrepreneurship development to provide maximum impact to economic activities in Sabah.
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Meanwhile, Ewon who is also Penampang MP, said the State Government needs to come up with an economic planning plan according to the potential in Borneo.
He said this is also in line with the development of Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara (IKN) in Kalimantan, Borneo, which is expected to have a positive impact on Sabah’s economy.
“Therefore, I suggest to the State Government come up with a progressive economic plan to be submitted and demanded from the Federal Government, especially in the preparation of the Thirteenth Malaysia Plan (RMK13) 2026-2030.
“If Indonesia is developing IKN in Kalimantan, while Thailand is starting to talk about building their ship canal.
“So we in Sabah need to be competitive in planning the future economic potential, especially the active trade activities in the Sulu Sea and the lively Borneo air traffic activities in Sabah,” he said.
Ewon said that the Indonesian Government is actively developing Nusantara in Kalimantan, Borneo, reflecting their recognition of the great potential of Borneo.
“I expect they will start moving to IKN this year as well.
“Hence, the time has come for the State Government to come up with a plan for a “look to the East policy in the country” which is to develop Sabah (and Sarawak) as a New Malaysian economic hub,” said Ewon.
The Upko President also suggested that “Momogun” be used to replace the word “Lain-Lain (Others)” in official government forms.
He also suggested that the State Government together the indigenous groups in Sabah as the Momogun group, which is then used to replace the Others column in the Government’s official forms.
“In some official government forms that aim to obtain race information. Apart from Malay, Chinese and Indian, the rest of the race information is stated as “others” (lian-lain).
“I would like to ask the State Government if it is willing to start discussions with stakeholders including the Federal Government to find the best formula to replace the word ‘other’s in the column with ethnic groups term which is more realistic and progressive,” he said.
Ewon said the Malaysian Government is one of the signatories of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
“Sabah has a large indigenous people demographic so in my opinion, putting the term ‘Others’ in official Government forms does not show respect for the indigenous community.
“I believe this process needs to start from the State Government level.
“Therefore, I suggest that official discussions can be started to consider recommendations from various parties, including my proposal to group these indigenous peoples as Momogun,” he said.
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