Ceasar Mandela Malakun, assistant minister to the chief minister, said SMJ 2.0 was intended to signal Sabah’s goal of moving beyond being seen as a peripheral state, and to position itself as a confident, competitive and respected region within Malaysia and beyond.
“SMJ 2.0 moves Sabah into the next phase. Transformation. Fixing what must be fixed, building what must be built and measuring performance by outcomes.
“(The master plan aims to) finish what must be finished, protect public funds and stop knee-jerk decisions that punish the people,” he said in a statement.
He said the master plan’s predecessor, SMJ 1.0, aimed to promote stabilisation by restoring confidence, improving coordination, tightening fiscal discipline and setting clear priorities.
“You cannot expand a house if the pillars are cracked.
“SMJ 2.0 matters because Sabah has never lacked talent or resources. What we lacked too often was continuity. The stability that lets institutions mature, projects finish and reforms stick,” he added.
He pointed to issues faced by the state, saying the Pan Borneo project lost momentum when the project delivery partner model was cancelled by the previous government.
“Call it policy flip-flops or political witch hunting, the result was the same. The rakyat paid.”
He added that the damage was not just delay, noting the wrongful termination by the previous administration of nine operators managing water treatment plants across Sabah.
“Sabahans had to pay, literally, over RM315 million in compensation and damages. Those funds could have been used to build more than 3,000 units of Rumah Mesra SMJ for the hardcore poor.
“Three thousand families with a roof over their heads. This is why continuity matters,” he said.
Malakun also said that SMJ 2.0, set to be unveiled on Jan 30, was anchored in the principle of “Rumah kita, kita jaga”.
“Sabah’s interests come first, its rights are defended, and development is shaped by Sabahans for the state’s long-term future.”
In November, chief minister Hajiji Noor said that SMJ 2.0 would continue the state’s development momentum by focusing on economic growth and human capital for the benefit of all Sabahans.