Joseph Pairin Kitingan
KOTA KINABALU: Infrastructure Development Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan has instructed his ministry to create a taskforce to discuss cabotage issues following the Prime Minister’s announcement of Sabah and Sarawak’s exemption from the policy.
He added that many people were unhappy that the word ‘exempted’ was used instead of ‘abolishment’.
“We appreciate what the prime minister has done because the exclusion from the policy for Sabah and Sarawak has the same meaning as abolishment,” he said.
“But of course, as long as the word abolishment is not used, there will be debates.”
He added that from the decision that resulted in Sabah and Sarawak being excluded, the committee hopes to collect opinions from all parties.
“I have already instructed my ministry to create the committee, where I will be the chairman. The committee will hold a meeting as soon as possible. We will accept all input,” he said.
He also said that they were aware some did not understand what the decision entailed, while some “probably pretended not to understand” and wanted to air certain views.
“What is important is that the government has good intentions and we want to have a holistic communication with the aim of finding a solution. We will meet with the stakeholders and all concerned,” he said.
He also said that the state government was not in agreement with Suria Holdings Capital to raise the tariffs.
He added that this was against the state government efforts to reduce tariffs.