High unemployment shows Sabah growth not benefiting folk: Bersatu leader

Summary

• A Bersatu Young Women’s leader says the Sabah government has failed to ensure that the state’s economic growth has a meaningful impact on its people.

• Vice-chief Nabila Norsahar says much-touted initiatives remain just “numbers and sweet nothings” for common Sabahans, who do not feel the effects of economic growth.

• This comes after the Statistics Department indicated that Sabah’s unemployment rate - 7.7 percent - had yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

The Sabah government has failed to ensure that the state’s economic growth makes a meaningful impact on its people, a Bersatu leader said.

Bersatu Young Women’s vice-chief Nabila Norsahar said that the increases in revenue, investments, the Pan Borneo Highway, and other initiatives were just “a game of numbers and sweet nothings”.

“The reality is, Sabahans don’t feel the great economic growth, but are facing various challenging issues under the GRS leadership,” she said in a statement today.

She cited data released yesterday that Sabah’s unemployment rate for 2024 was at 7.7 percent, more than double the national rate of 3.1 percent.

Data from the Statistics Department show that joblessness in Sabah has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels of below seven percent.

‘Attempt to fool Sabahans’

“Why is this happening? Until when will this problem persist? What is the fate of Sabah youths?” Nabila asked.

“Hasn’t it been proven that all announcements about Sabah’s economic growth are just an attempt to fool Sabahans?” she added.

Bersatu was previously part of the GRS-led government before Chief Minister Hajiji Noor led an exodus out of the party in late 2022 to align with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

During the two years that Bersatu was in the state government - with Hajiji as state party chief - unemployment in Sabah fluctuated between as high as 9.1 percent and a low of 8.1 percent.

In November last year, Sabah finance minister Masidi Manjun acknowledged that demand for labour in the state is lower than supply.

He said the state government intends to bring in more investments in 2025 to create more jobs.

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