MPN study proves Sabah's rapid growth under Najib's leadership era - Salleh
KOTA BELUD, April 25 (Bernama) -- The study undertaken by the National Council of Professors (MPN) proves that Sabah is rapidly developing under the leadership era of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said recently MPN published a booklet, the Sabah Development Dynamics 2008-2018, which contains various information pertaining to development on socio-economic and education, security situation, health and others.
"If we study the information presented in the book, it is clear that Sabah is being given special attention by the federal government, especially since Najib held the post of Prime Minister since April 3, 2009 until now," he said when officiating the Professor with Sabah Community 2018 event.
He said the increase in Sabah's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2016 was 4.7 per cent, compared to a rise of 4.2 per cent for the whole country.
"This means Sabah is developing more rapidly than the whole of Malaysia, causing an increase in the Sabah state government budget from RM2.3 billion in 2008 to RM4.1 billion in 2018.
"The growth also occurs in average household income in Sabah from RM3,102 per month in 2009 to RM5,354 per month in 2016. This contributed to a decline in the poverty rate in Sabah from 19.7 per cent in 2008 to 2.9 per cent in 2016," he said.
Due to Najib's concern over the welfare of Sabah, Salleh said from 2008 to 2015, Sabah had received development allocations, totalling RM9.4 billion, from the federal government and the amount exceeded the average federal allocations received by other states in the country.
He said, between 2008 and 2018, Sabah also received annual grant provisions from the local authorities totalling RM212.6 million and the figure was also the highest in terms of average allocation given at the national level.
In addition, Salleh said, from 2008 to 2018, Sabah also received road maintenance allocations amounting to RM3.6 billion and that was two-fold the amount for road maintenance funds received by other states in Malaysia.
"These are the observations made by the MPN and many other development records in Sabah have been implemented with the help of the federal government led by Najib," he said.
He said the government had formed and developed the country, in particular Sabah, not merely for the present but for the future of the country.
"MPN's presence in Sabah is not to campaign in the general election. But they have often come to Sabah to make various observations and what they are presenting are facts obtained from their study," he said.
Hence, Salleh reiterated that the people in the state should not be swayed by the various fake and defamatory information being currently spread through the social media.
"Now fake or slanderous information is the latest enemy of the country. Certain parties spread slanders through social media to split the racial and religious unity in our country," he said.
-- BERNAMA
