Abolish the Cabotage policy immediately, urges MP

KOTA KINABALU: MP for Tawau Datuk Chua Soon Bui has urged the Federal Government to immediately abolish the Cabotage policy.

She stressed that this is only appropriate since the Minster of Transport Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha has recently publicly proclaimed that the Government is liberal in its Cabotage policy, and that foreign vessels are free to enter any ports in Sabah.

"He (Kong) should be responsible for what he had said," she said, adding that she would raise this issue in Parliament after this.

She said the abolition of the said policy would also be consistent with the Prime Minister's "1Malaysia” concept, and also the implementation of the Economic Transformation Program (ETP) in Sabah aimed to provide Sabah with a competitive edge.

She was also convinced that its abolishment would effectively relieve the current burden of the people due to a high cost of living, which was largely contributed by the Cabotage policy.

"The people of Sabah have been living in great misery with about 40 per cent higher cost of living for the past 30 years; this includes the cost of essential items like food and medicine. This was despite the fact that Sabah is the poorest state in Malaysia," she pointed out.

She noted that the implementation of the said policy has also adversely impacted on the various industries in Sabah, the manufacturing and construction industries included.

Raymond challenged to resolve cabotage policy issue

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) secretary general Datuk Richard Yong has challenged Industrial Development Minister Datuk Raymond to provide a solution to the issue of cabotage policy which is impeding the industrial development in Sabah.

Its secretary general, Datuk Richard Yong, said the cabotage policy responsible for the higher shipping cost resulting in the higher material cost had taken away the competitive edge of Sabah and hampering the development of industries in Sabah.

According to The Federation of Sabah Manufacturers (FSM), he said factories in Sabah have no choice but to relocate to elsewhere due to high cost of production brought about by the unfavorable cabotage policy.

Richard pointed out that Transport Minister Dato Seri Kong Cho Ha's response denying the cabotage policy is the main cause of high cost of materials showed that the Barisan Nasional Federal Government is not prepared to abolish this policy which works to the disadvantage of Sabah.

“As a Minister of Industrial Development for Sabah, Datuk Raymond Tan has the responsibility to exlplain to the people on how he proposes to counter the ill effect of the cabotage policy since the duty of his ministry is to attract investors to Sabah, especially to the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP). What had he done to resolve the problem of high production cost faced by the Sabah factories? "