Sabah’s 11th Yang di-Pertua Negeri, Tun Musa Haji Aman laid out a sweeping vision for the state’s development, ranging from clean energy and environmental sustainability to poverty eradication and youth empowerment in his first policy speech.
Musa lauded the state’s effort to tackle poverty, announcing that over 22,000 hardcore poor households have been removed from the government’s database as he touched on 15 broad areas, including public service reform, tourism growth and digital governance.
“This programme has successfully delisted 22,510 household heads from the locked figure of hardcore poor as of July 31, 2024,” he said during his hour-long address at the opening of the fifth session of the 16th Sabah State Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
He also threw his support behind Sabah’s clean energy agenda, revealing plans to power the state with 50% renewable energy by 2035, backed by major hydroelectric, solar and biomass projects — including the Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) system.
“The state government is committed to implementing hydroelectric, solar and other potential renewable energy sources such as geothermal, wind, bioenergy, and OTEC.”
Musa said the state had collected RM6.842 billion in revenue in 2024, surpassing RM6 billion for a second consecutive year.
To reduce dependence on oil and gas royalties, Sabah introduced new state sales taxes on silica sand, palm biomass, and mined gold and silver, he said.
He also highlighted a long-term green goal — to gazette 30% of Sabah’s land area as Totally Protected Areas by the end of 2025.
Currently, 27% has been protected.
On infrastructure, Musa said Phase 1 of the Pan Borneo Highway is on track for full completion by 2029. Meanwhile, Sabah aims to achieve 100% rural electricity coverage by 2030 under the SE-RAMP 2040 roadmap.
The Governor also unveiled a new focus on AI-powered governance, announcing the rollout of the Sabah Digital Government Innovation (SDGI) masterplan by year-end.
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be applied to ease decision-making, reduce costs and improve the quality of public service delivery.”
On education, he praised the state for allocating RM42.14 million in education aid, benefiting over 60,000 recipients.
Two new initiatives — the SENTOSA one-off aid for local students and the SUKSES school activity grant — were also introduced.
He closed the speech by thanking the Chief Minister and state government for their leadership, and extended festive greetings to the people of Sabah.
“My family and I would like to wish all Honourable Members and the people of Sabah a blessed Hari Raya Aidilfitri. May Allah shower us with His mercy and protect our beloved state so that we may continue to live in peace, harmony and prosperity.” – April 10, 2025
