In Beluran, a rural district in Sabah, the Tangkarason Clinic served its community for over 30 years—until it was destroyed by a fire in February 2024.

While devastating, the fire revealed an even deeper problem: the clinic had no official land title, and plans to rebuild were stalled indefinitely.

This revelation is not unique to the Tangkarason Clinic. Across Sabah, dozens of federal facilities, including schools and clinics, lack proper land documentation.

State Health Exco Datuk James Ratib said 47 government health facilities had no land applications filed, and another 120 remained stuck in preliminary stages of approval.

“This is not just a paperwork problem—it’s a failure to serve the people,” Ratib said in a statement.

A systemic failure

The root cause, officials say, lies in an inefficient federal bureaucracy.

For federal facilities in Sabah, land applications must first be submitted to ministries in Kuala Lumpur. Only then can they be approved by the Department of Director General of Lands and Mines (JKPTG) in Sabah.

“This is not just a paperwork problem—it’s a failure to serve the people,” Ratib said.

This process has proven to be slow and unresponsive. According to Mr. Ratib, some applications are delayed for months due to unresponsive officers, while others are never submitted. The result is a backlog that cripples reconstruction and development efforts, leaving local communities without access to essential services.

At the Tangkarason site, residents are growing increasingly frustrated as they wait for a solution.

“We’ve been left without a clinic for almost a year now,” said a Beluran resident. “This should have been resolved long before the fire.”

Bad connectivity in Sabah is reason behind need for remote health and education facilities in the state. – BorneoVox

Efforts to expedite

In October 2024, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor announced that federal projects, including schools and clinics, could proceed on gazetted land without waiting for land titles. The decision was intended to cut through the red tape.

But critics argue that this measure is a temporary fix. Mr. Ratib has proposed establishing a special committee to address federal land issues systematically. His proposal includes identifying cases where government lands have no grants or remain in the “PT” status, as well as training officers to better manage land applications.

“The officers must understand the urgency,” Ratib said. “This isn’t just about paperwork—it’s about the welfare of the people.”

Lingering questions

While these efforts are a step forward, the slow pace of progress underscores the need for structural changes in how federal lands are managed in Sabah. The Tangkarason fire has become a symbol of the broader challenges facing the state—a glaring example of how bureaucratic inertia can delay critical services.

For the people of Beluran and other affected communities, the stakes are high. Without urgent action, essential infrastructure projects will remain bogged down in a labyrinth of administrative hurdles.

“This is about more than rebuilding a clinic,” one local resident said. “It’s about ensuring that Sabahans have access to the services they deserve.”

The question now is whether the federal government will act decisively to untangle decades of inefficiency and provide a path forward for Sabah’s stalled projects. – January 17, 2025.