Labuan wants in on the Pan Borneo Highway project.

Labuan MP Datuk Rozman Isli said the duty-free island must be connected to the highway as it is the country’s oil and gas hub, international financial center and educational hub.

The Pan Borneo Highway, being constructed in stages, will eventually find its way over 2,239 kilometers through Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah.

He said a discussion was held with the Federal Government but the Sabah Government’s approval was needed as it involved state jurisdiction over land.

Rozman said Labuan could be linked to the Pan Borneo Highway via a highway connecting Menumbok to Beaufort on the Sabah mainland. Beaufort is one of the towns in Sabah to be connected by the Pan Borneo Highway.

Opening a link with Beaufort would encourage travelers on long journeys to transit on the duty-free-island, he said.

He said the Labuan-Menumbok sector could be served by the existing roll-on roll-off ferries that could carry passengers and vehicles because the proposed bridge would take some time to be implemented due to the high cost, of about RM5 billion.

Rozman also said, the expansion of the ferry terminal docking ramps at the Labuan and Menumbok ends would be completed ahead of the Pan Borneo Highway project, thus complementing the highway project.

Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, the country’s first ambassador to the Vatican, has held several state and federal government portfolios before.

He is former plantation industries and commodities minister from 2008 to 2013, minister in the prime minister’s department (1994-1995 and 1999-2008) and Sabah chief minister (1998-1999).

Dompok, 67, had also served as Sabah finance minister from 1985 to 1990, Sabah agriculture and fisheries minister (1990-1992) and Sabah tourism and environment minister (1995-1998).

Dompok was among seven Malaysian envoys-designate who received their credentials from Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah at Istana Negara.

The chairmen of the disaster management committees in the respective districts in Sabah have been told to utilize all assets and logistics in their area to address the effect of the current dry spell.

They comprise the respective district officers and municipal council presidents.

State Secretary Tan Sri Sukarti Wakiman (file pic,2nd left), who is the State Disaster Management Committee chairman, said residents should also give their cooperation by not conducting open burning.

“Residents staying in villages with houses that are built close to one another should always be on the alert to avoid fire from happening.

“Farmers and plantation workers are also advised to not carry our clearing of their farms or plantation by open burning,” he said in a statement Thursday.

The statement was issued following the State Disaster Management Committee, which was chaired by Sukarti, yesterday.

He also advised cigarette smokers to be careful when throwing their cigarette butts to avoid incidence of bush or forest fires.

Sukarti said the dry spell had affected water supply in 194 villages in 16 districts in Sabah, but measures had been taken by the disaster committee to channel clean water supply to the affected villages.

Various proactive measures taken by the government through its relevant agencies in safeguarding the country’s security have given much confidence to foreign tourists to visit Malaysia and Sabah in particular.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said the ongoing safety controls carried out in the state also enabled foreign tourists to feel safe, thus ensuring the Sabah tourism sector was not adversely affected by any incident.

“When the government shows that we (the security forces) are monitoring and taking proactive measures to maintain security in Sabah, they (tourists) will be more confident.

“We need to stay vigilant. The tourism industry in Sabah will continue to prosper if tourists feel safe,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

Nur Jazlan said according to his recent observation on the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom), about 1,000 tourists had visited the island of Sipadan and Mabul, which proved that the security situation in the state was under control.

Upset with the poor state of schools in the interior of Sabah and Sarawak, Barisan Nasional member of parliament (MP) for Kalabakan Datuk Seri Abdul Ghapur Salleh, today urged the Ministry of Education to form a special committee to address the issue.

Ghapur Salleh said the committee should study the needs of such schools to resolve the issue of dilapidated schools.

“The leaders should not only come here during the general election to distribute allocations,” he said

Ghapur Salleh said urgent action is needed if the government is serious about closing the education gap and ensure that all schools receive equal treatment.

“We will reach 2020 in four years and it will be a shame if there are still dilapidated schools by then,” he added.