Sabah has waited too long for rightful development

FOR decades, Sabahans have been told to be patient. Patient with poor roads, patient with water cuts, patient with electricity disruptions, and patient with limited job opportunities. We are reminded of future plans, upcoming projects, and long-term visions. Yet on the ground, development continues to move at a pace that does not match Sabah’s needs or its contributions to the nation.

This situation is not the result of a lack of resources or effort. Sabah is rich in oil, gas, land, biodiversity, and human talent. What it lacks is not potential, but power — the power to decide its own priorities and to benefit fairly from its own wealth.

One of the core problems is Sabah’s limited autonomy within the federation. Key sectors such as oil and gas, education, healthcare, and major infrastructure funding remain firmly under federal control. Sabah must rely heavily on allocations from Putrajaya to build roads, hospitals, schools, and utilities. When these funds are delayed, reduced, or influenced by political calculations, Sabahans pay the price in slower development and poorer services.

This imbalance is especially glaring in the context of oil and gas. For many years, Sabah received only a small fraction of revenue from resources extracted from its own waters and land. Even today, communities near resource-producing areas still struggle with basic infrastructure. It is neither reasonable nor sustainable for a state that contributes so much to continue receiving so little in return.

Infrastructure weaknesses continue to hold Sabah back. Poor connectivity between districts, unreliable water and electricity supply, and limited logistics capacity increase costs for businesses and discourage investment. Without strong infrastructure, there can be no serious industrial growth, no competitive tourism sector, and no meaningful job creation. Development cannot be promised; it must be built.

Political instability has further weakened Sabah’s progress. Frequent changes in government and party-hopping have disrupted continuity and undermined long-term planning. Development requires consistent policies over many years, not constant political realignment. Sabah does not need more slogans — it needs stability and delivery.

Another urgent issue is the loss of Sabahan talent. Too many young people leave because they see no future at home. This is not a failure of ambition; it is a failure of opportunity. A state cannot move forward when its best minds are forced to build other regions while their own remains underdeveloped.

Sabah’s geography makes development more challenging and more expensive, but this reality is often ignored in national planning. A one-size-fits-all approach to funding does not work for a large, mountainous state with scattered rural communities. Fair development requires recognising these differences, not pretending they do not exist.

These problems are not new, and they are not accidental. They are the result of long-standing structural arrangements that have consistently disadvantaged Sabah. Addressing them requires more than goodwill and short-term projects. It requires real reforms — greater control over resources, fairer revenue-sharing, stable governance, and genuine respect for Sabah’s rights under the federation.

Sabah does not ask for special treatment. It asks for fairness. It asks that development reflect its contributions, its geography, and the dignity of its people. The time for patience has passed. What Sabah needs now is action — clear, sustained, and accountable.

Sabah has waited long enough.