Shafie wants 20% oil royalty to create jobs, improve education

(FMT) – Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal has reiterated the state government’s demand for 20% oil royalty from the federal government, up from the current 5% cash payment. 

Speaking at a breaking of fast event in Tawau yesterday, Shafie said this was to help provide employment and manage the education sector in the state.

“Sabah should not be left behind in education. What more, I do not want to see local youths leave Sabah to look for jobs elsewhere. Our state is rich and its richness is enough to benefit all our people,” he said.

The Parti Warisan Sabah president said one of the plans the new Warisan-led state government wanted to carry out was to make the state’s eastern-most town, Tawau, and its neighbouring Kalabakan, the hub of the state’s seafood industry.

Shafie said the geographic location of the towns – which face the deep Celebes Sea and are in the middle of the Sulawesi sea route – made them an ideal spot for such a hub as there were many resources that the locals could obtain from the sea.

To top it off, he said, the volcanic soil in Tawau and Kalabakan was suitable for fruit trees, thus the towns could double as Sabah’s main fruit suppliers.

“It would provide jobs for the people because there would be lots of other opportunities coming out of these, such as transportation, packaging, marketing and commerce,” he said.

He said it was not true that the towns could not be developed as all they needed was ideas and commitment from their representatives to help develop the district.

Regarding the ban on the export of timber, Shafie said he had imposed the ban because he wanted to provide employment for the locals.

“I have discussed with the relevant parties to ensure that we will have more downstream timber industry activities, such as furniture making factories and wood factories locally, especially here in Tawau and Kalabakan.

“This would certainly give a lot of job opportunities to our people,” he said.