Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) said Labuan was no longer an attraction as the only tax-free items there are chocolates.

In his speech at the Dewan Rakyat, he said other items were expensive and people from Sabah no longer saw the need to travel to the federal territory.

Under the 12th Malaysia Plan, he urged Putrajaya to make Labuan a “truly” tax-free haven again to kick-start its economy and uplift the lives of the people who are struggling without jobs and businesses.

“If the federal government does not see that the territory needs to be developed, then let Sabah manage it,” he added.

He called on the federal government to give Sabah the autonomy to run the state.

He said this was because there is a lot of red tape at the moment, citing an example of the Sabah public works department having to wait for funds from the works ministry.

“The works ministry then waits for allocations from the finance ministry,” he said.

He questioned the reason for the red tape as the finance ministry could deal directly with the department.

Due to that, he said Sabah should have the autonomy to decide on the projects to be carried out there.

“For 58 years, (since joining Malaysia) Sabah is still poor.

“The federal government must have the will to develop Sabah as it has the peninsular,” he said.

He also asked the health ministry to look for alternatives for Sabah rural folk who do not have smartphones and cannot show proof that they have been vaccinated.

He said the poor only have a card issued by the health ministry to show that they are fully vaccinated.

“They bring the vaccination cards to show proof but (premises owners) do not entertain them,” he added.