Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said the State Budget 2026 lacks a “wow factor” and does not sufficiently demonstrate how it will resolve long-standing issues faced by the people, despite the large figures announced.
The Warisan President and Senallang Assemblyman said the Budget did not clearly show how it would bring meaningful change at the grassroots level, particularly in addressing persistent problems such as clean water supply, electricity, roads, poverty, education and employment opportunities.
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“I do not see any wow factor that shows the Budget can address problems at the grassroots level, whether in the short-term or the long-term,” he said during the debate on the Budget at the State Legislative Assembly, Monday.
Shafie said many of the projects highlighted in the Budget were repeatedly mentioned over the years without clear outcomes.
While noting that the State Government projected a revenue of about RM6.4 billion in 2026, Shafie said allocations for basic infrastructure remained insufficient, particularly for rural and interior areas.
“I don’t think the allocations are sufficient to resolve basic problems such as water supply, electricity and roads,” he said.
He also questioned allocations under the 13th Malaysia Plan (RMK13), saying the ceiling of about RM1.71 billion spread over five years was too small to resolve Sabah’s basic infrastructure problems.
He said the average annual allocation of about RM340 million was not in line with the scale of needs involving water supply, electricity and road connectivity across the State.
Shafie said the issue was not merely the size of allocations, but the structural approach, noting that many of the same projects continued to be listed without assurance of full completion or long-term solutions.
On Sabah’s economic direction, Shafie said he did not see a clear and comprehensive framework to encourage private sector participation and investment, including under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
“I do not see a framework to incentivise the private sector to enable Sabah to compete, not only within Malaysia but also at the regional level,” he said.
He criticised development that remained overly concentrated, citing congestion at key infrastructure facilities such as the Sepanggar Port, and said development planning should be more balanced and spread across the State to unlock wider economic potential.
“Development has to be spread out and not concentrated in one place,” he said.
Shafie stressed the importance of improving connectivity across Sabah, particularly between the east coast, interior and northern regions, to support trade, logistics and economic growth.
He said better transport and logistics infrastructure were necessary to ensure Sabah could fully benefit from regional markets.
Raising concerns about youth employment, Shafie said about 7,000 graduates leave universities each year without clear job prospects in Sabah.
“The question is, where do they go? Can they get jobs in Sabah, or do they have to look for work elsewhere?” he said.
He warned that continued out-migration among young people would weaken the State’s long-term economic prospects and undermine efforts to build a sustainable local workforce.
On education, Shafie expressed concern that Sabah was falling behind other states in future-oriented skills, including artificial intelligence and automation.
“We are lagging behind, including in areas such as artificial intelligence and automation,” he said.
He questioned the effectiveness of education spending, pointing out that some schools still lacked access to basic facilities.
Shafie said Sabah could no longer rely solely on raw commodities for revenue and called for greater focus on value-added industries to create jobs and generate sustainable income.
He said downstream activities were necessary to strengthen the State’s economic resilience and reduce dependence on raw exports.
On Sabah’s 40 per cent revenue entitlement, Shafie said the matter should no longer be delayed following the court’s decision.
“This is our money. It is not theirs,” he said.
He said the entitlement was crucial for Sabah’s development, noting that the State remained among the poorer regions despite more than seven decades in the Federation.
Shafie said his remarks were intended as constructive criticism and stressed that the opposition would support any policy that genuinely benefited the people, but cautioned against delays and weak implementation.
“We will support what is good for the people, but we do not want delays or problems in implementation,” he said.
