3-HOUR POWER DISRUPTION DAILY IN SANDAKAN

By : JENNE LAJIUN

KOTA KINABALU: Electricity disruptions continue to plague the people of Sandakan, said Elopura assemblyman Au Kam Wah during the State Assembly sitting yesterday.

“It is a problem for us to generate our economy and it is also being made an issue. We get power disruption for three hours every day,” he said.

He added that the matter must be addressed as it has continued to be a major problem in Sandakan and in his constituency.

Au also stressed for the need of a new tourism attraction in Sandakan.

He said presently the attractions that lure tourists to Sandakan were the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, Kinabatangan and the Selingan Turtle Island.

He proposed that the government develops the Berhala Island as an attraction in Sandakan.

“The island is merely 10 minutes away from Sandakan and it can be an attraction to tourists coming to Sandakan,” he said.

He added that the State targets three million tourists this year.

“But if the bulk of the tourists only concentrated on the West Coast of Sabah, then it is not good enough. Even if 20 percent comes to the East Coast, it will help us,” he said.

In his debate, he also mentioned that Sandakan now has enough rooms to cater for the tourism industry.

Meanwhile, Karamunting Assemblyman, Charles Pang Su Pin said that there were 600 unemployed graduates in Sandakan.

He urged the government to ensure that these graduates had job opportunities available upon completing their tertiary studies.

He also called for the establishment of the Fellow Perdana programme in Sabah.

The programme allows fresh graduates and undergraduates the opportunity to be mentored by Chief Ministers and even the Prime Ministers. It is an initiative by the Malaysian government and coordinated by the Ministry of Youth and Sports which functions as the main secretariat for the programme.