41. CRIMINALS in Govt robbing for decades

CRIMINALS lying more and more with empty heads but pockets full of USD, AUD, Euro, HKD, SD, RM, Yen, Dinars, Gold, Diamonds, mistresses etc etc. and talk of CABOTAGE only to fool more  poor and poorer people in Sabah..and next is life threatening GST- the malaise approach of Malaysia -- Joshua

http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/09/11/sabah-to-address-extra-freight-cost-caused-by-cabotage-policy-cm/

Sabah to address extra freight cost caused by Cabotage Policy – CM

by Murib Morpi. Posted on September 11, 2013, Wednesday

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Ports Authority (SPA) and the State Economic Planning Unit (EPU) will commission a detailed study to look at how the state can increase its shipping volume soon, in response to the long-standing Cabotage Policy issue.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman in announcing this yesterday, said there was still quite a fair bit of room for Sabah to manoeuvre and take steps to address the extra freight cost caused by the policy which had been blamed for the higher prices of daily goods in Sabah.
“On the subject of the Cabotage Policy, I agree that we are facing some setbacks at the moment and we are doing our best to resolve this matter,” he said in his speech for the annual luncheon of Malaysia International Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MICCI) Sabah here, yesterday.
“The final report of the study is expected to be completed by mid next year,” said Musa in his speech delivered by Deputy Chief Minister cum Minister of Industrial Development Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah who represented him at the function.
Musa, who is also Sabah’s Minister of Finance, strongly believed that Sabah could still increase its shipping volume and reduce freight cost even with some semblance of the Cabotage Policy in place.
“At the moment this is very much a work in progress and we are working very hard at it,” he said.
The Chief Minister also stressed that the state government had not wavered in its goal to develop Sepanggar Port into a Regional Transhipment Hub, which it included under the Sabah Development
Corridor (SDC) blueprint.
Earlier, MICCI Sabah chairman Datuk A Arulpragasam in his welcoming address also highlighted the much debated policy, urging the federal government to implement the proposed three-year relaxation trial without any further delay or excuses.
He said it was now the time for Sabah to take advantage of its strategic location in the centre of Asian trade route and push for a major revamp in the national shipping policy by having the federal government allocate large fund to realise its plan for Sepanggar Port.
He added that the private sector also felt strongly that the Malaysian Competition Commission’s (MyCC) decision to allow exemption to certain shipowners would only prolong the problems of high cost of doing business in Sabah.
“The MyCC’s role is to promote fair competition. Are they really doing so? Sabah businessmen are already up in arms and are in the process of expressing their strong and angry views and are raising their objections to the MyCC and the state government,” he said.
Arulpragasam said the proposed implementation of the Government Service Tax (GST) called for a more urgent measure to be taken to address the Cabotage Policy issue. He argued that the government must first implement a “one country one price” policy in order to ensure that GST was fairly implemented to everyone in the country.
He said giving large subsidies to shipping companies alone would not be enough to reduce the cost of moving goods to the interior of Sabah and this would result in the rural people paying more in GST compared to those in Peninsular Malaysia.

At the event, Tan also launched the Sabah International Expo 2014 on Musa’s behalf. The biennial trade fair scheduled for September next year is expected to bring in more than 200 international exhibitors from 20 countries, including major companies such as Eu Yan Sang, Fuji Xerox and Petronas.