SABAH Development Corridor (SDC)

Sabah development plan to be launched this month

KOTA KINABALU

Sunday, January 20, 2008

SABAH Development Corridor (SDC), set to be launched by Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi later this month, is seen as a symbolic new year gift for more than three million people in the state.

The initiative, a brainchild of Abdullah, is holistic in manner, covering all sectors of the economy, including infrastructure development and benefiting all segments of the community.

Soon after launching the new Kota Kinabalu International Airport's Terminal II building on February 14 last year, Abdullah indicated that development in Sabah needed to be accelerated.

In what is seen as a panacea to fast track development in Sabah, dubbed the 'Land Below The Wind', he said that there was a need for a blueprint called the Sabah Development Corridor or SDC to achieve the desired result.

Showing his seriousness in the matter, Abdullah then asked the state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Musa Aman to finalise the details as soon as possible, hoping for Sabah to become one of the most developed states in the country.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to launch the SDC, which will be spearheaded by the state's government-linked Yayasan Sabah, at the Sabah Container Port in Menggatal on January 29.

At a media briefing on the SDC here recently, Musa said: "We want a balanced development between urban and rural areas. This development corridor will cover the whole state and not just be confined to pockets."

"Sabah is a big state and if we were to develop only the eastern part, that is Lahad Datu, Tawau and Sandakan, the people in other areas, especially in the interior, might be left behind in terms of development," he said.

That's why we need to develop the whole of Sabah, so that everybody will share the cake of development, he added.

Musa said he believed that the SDC would benefit many people and enhance the quality of life of people in Sabah.

"This SDC is good for everybody and the people of Sabah can expect a better life and hence, we must work together to make it a reality," he said.

Musa said the SDC would create more job opportunities for Sabahans , thus helping to uplift the standard of life as well as reducing unemployement in the state.

The people of Sabah will take the lead, he added.Bernama