Yong: Kembalinya Labuan ke Sabah adalah soal masa kerana ia adalah satu-satunya penyelesaian jangka panjang untuk Labuan

Oleh Datuk Yong Teck Lee, Presiden SAPP

Ahli Parlimen Labuan secara tiba-tiba mula menyedari hakikat bahawa Labuan akan menjadi lebih baik sebagai sebahagian daripada Sabah daripada terus menjadi wilayah persekutuan.

Sebenarnya, sekarang adalah masa yang tepat untuk memulakan proses mengembalikan Labuan ke Sabah kerana iklim politik di negara ini dilihat kondusif untuk langkah tersebut.

English Version inset

Harris sued for giving away Labuan 28 years ago

Kota Kinabalu: A local businessman has filed a suit against former Chief Minister Tan Sri Harris Mohd Salleh over the "surrender" of Labuan to the Federal Government 28 years ago, which resulted in the island becoming a Federal Territory.

James Albanus @ Richard, 59, of Kg Biau, Papar, filed the suit through counsel Marcel Jude Joseph on Wednesday.

SAPP to ‘fast track’ oil blocks L and M issue

PENAMPANG: The Barisan Nasional (BN) government must bewary of what it does lest history catches up with them.

"I am warning the BN government of today, that if they are not careful, history will catch up with them, they are answerable now and in the future," said Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Datuk Yong Teck Lee.

"In this respect we are fast tracking the issue of L and M oil blocks,” he said.

Labuan should be made ‘special region’

LABUAN: It is not impossible to have Labuan returned to Sabah even though the island has been a free port for more than 25 years.

This could be gradually done by first having the island declared as a "Special Administrative Region (SAR).”

The "future state government" will have to prepare and submit a "package" regarding this to the Federal Government for the higher than State status for Labuan If approval was not forthcoming, then a referendum can be carried out to find out the wighes of local residents.

SAPP President Datuk Yong Teck Lee, who said this, however, did not specify what he meant by the "future state government".

However, it is understood that what he meant was when the opposition ruled the State.

Labuan issue haunting PBS?

PBS thinks both the federal and state governments should set up a joint committee to look into issues such as oil royalty, Labuan rights, Sabah Autonomy and the Malaysia Agreement.

KOTA KINABALU: More than 25 years after Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) rose to power on the back of the controversial surrender of Labuan to the federal government, the issue has returned to haunt the party.

Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan has been forced to lend his voice to calls for the setting up of a special committee to study the impact of returning the Federal Territory of Labuan to Sabah.

SAPP to PBS: What's your stand on the Labuan issue?

KOTA KINABALU, June 17, 2011: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) wants Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) to state its stand on the Labuan issue.

The former Sabah territory which is now a Federal Territory after it was ceded to the Federal government in 1984, recently became a hot topic again, following Upko's recent call for this island to be returned back to Sabah.

Labuan MP tells Upko to stay out

Michael Kaung

An senior member of the Sabah Barisan Nasional coalition wants the federal government to return Labuan to Sabah.

LABUAN: The call to return Labuan to Sabah by a senior Sabah politician is uncalled for, Labuan MP Yussof Mahal said here yesterday.

He said United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) vice- president Wences Anggang should retract his statement.

Who regulates Labuan’s business and financial centre?

Labuan FSA is an agency to rationalise the regulatory framework of the business and financial centre.

 

By Sazali Suzin

Labuan was designated as the country’s International Business and Financial Centre (IBFC) (formerly known as International Offshore Financial Centre) in 1990. There were several agencies that were involved at the early stages of Labuan’s establishment as International Business and Financial Centre.

Ferry operator slams Sabah government

Labuan Ferry Corporation under attack for its poor service has blamed the state government's lackadaisical approach to its offer to build and operate a new terminal in Labuan. 

The sole Labuan roll-on-roll-off ferry operator is furious that its monopoly business must now be shared with two other ferry operators.

Labuan's broken promises

The year 2010 as usual start of with high expectations but as months went by it became evident that the gloom that gripped the local economy the preceding year had not loosened.

Retail business was said to have plunged by between 30 and 40 per cent, and the island's duty-free status seemed to be losing its lustre.

Though more residential houses became available for rent at cheaper rates, it was not the case for commercial properties.

Shophouses continued to command a price tag of more than RM1 million each. Shop rentals shot up due to limited shops available for business, adding to the inflation on the island.

The much talked-about proposed Labuan-Menumbok bridge, which was first mentioned in the Labuan Development Plan (1997-2015) and in 2006 a visiting Yang diPertuan Agong gave royal endorsement for efforts to be pursued with the Federal Government, looked like moving towards reality. Especially with the allocation of RM5 million for Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) to do a hydrographic study for the project. The survey reported that it was essential due to the limited air and sea links of Labuan and that the bridge if built now would cost RM3 billion but doubled if built later.