KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Government has been urged not to sideline the voice and stance of the Sabah Government in formulating any laws and policies related to forestry, climate change and the country’s carbon market.
Penampang Member of Parliament, Datuk Ewon Benedick, said Sabah is a major contributor to Malaysia’s efforts to protect the environment at the global level, including the country’s commitments under the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
He said Sabah recorded the highest forest cover in Malaysia at 62.53 per cent, followed by Sarawak (61.52 per cent), far exceeding the national average of 54.4 per cent.
“With this extent of forest cover, Sabah is directly ‘subsidising’ the country’s sustainability targets and climate commitments. Therefore, the State Government’s views must be taken into account in the drafting of the National Climate Change Bill and the implementation of the Carbon Market Policy launched last April.
“Although land and forests are the absolute jurisdiction of the states under the Federal Constitution, Putrajaya should increase the Ecological Fiscal Transfer (EFT) allocation to Sabah as a fair return for the state’s role in preserving the nation’s forest treasures,” he said.
He, who is also Deputy Chief Minister III cum Sabah Minister of Industrial Development, Entrepreneurship and Transport, said this when debating the Supply Bill 2027 at the committee stage for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Ewon also requested additional allocations for more pipe wells and water filtration systems to be built in rural villages in Sabah through BALBA.
He said the need is very urgent, especially in hilly areas such as Penampang and Kadamaian which still lack clean water supply and frequently face water problems during the dry season.
He also sought clarification on the scope of the RM65 million natural disaster study in Sabah and requested that its findings be handed over to the Sabah Government in preparation for disasters.
Ewon also raised the need to rehabilitate the former Mamut copper mine in Ranau so that the area can be developed into a productive location for the state’s economy.
On environmental conservation, he welcomed the RM411,000 allocation for the Heart of Borneo (HOB) Sabah Project but proposed that the ministry provide a special annual fund to sustain the Kinabalu UNESCO Global Geopark and the Crocker Range Penampang–Keningau.
He also sought NRES’s commitment to cooperate in preserving the ecosystem around the state’s new industrial areas, namely the Blue Economy Industrial Park in Kudat which borders the Tun Mustapha Marine Park, and the POIC Lahad Datu Industrial Park which is surrounded by mangrove forest areas.
Source: Datuk Ewon Benedict Media
