Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor has called for an immediate review of all agreements and contracts involving non-performing government agencies and government-linked companies (GLCs) which are causing the government to lose revenue.

He also reminded the officers assigned to as signatories of the agreements and contracts involved to take into account the interests of the state.

“This is why I want to emphasize here that any government agency when making an agreement, must ensure that it (the agreement) takes into account the interests of the state. The officers involved, including legal officers, must look at and carefully scrutinize the contents of the agreement,” said Hajiji after chairing the 120th Sabah Foundation Board of Trustees meeting at Menara Kinabalu on Monday.

The Chief Minister, who is also the chairman of the Sabah Foundation Board of Trustees, also announced the achievements of of Innoprise Corporation Sdn Bhd (ICSB), the investment machinery of the Sabah Foundation Group which managed to increase its pre-tax profit by RM424 million compared to RM112 million in 2020.

“This increase is RM312 million or four times from the previous year. This makes it the highest increase recorded by ICSB in nine years,” he said, adding that for ICSB Group’s revenue, there was a significant increase from RM819 million in 2020 to RM1.2 billion in 2021.

An increase of 45 per cent or RM369 million is the highest recorded by ICSB since 2013.

“For the Sabah Foundation Group, the pre-tax surplus in 2021 is RM358.12 million, compared to the 2020 pre-tax income surplus of RM18.5 million, an increase of RM339.62 million or 1836 percent,” he said.

The significant increase in surplus income before tax in 2021 is due to the increase in revenue in 2021 which amounted to RM1.2 billion compared to revenue in 2020 which amounted to RM830.43 million.

The Chief Minister also wants to see ICSB’s subsidiaries empowered so that they do not become a burden and a problem to the Sabah Foundation.

“For example, we hope the appointment of the chairman of the Board of Directors and Board of Governors of UCSF (University College Sabah Foundation) and a new Vice Chancellor, will solve the problems faced by UCSF.

“Similarly with the Sabah Foundation Technical College (KTYS), I want the problems faced to be resolved quickly so that they are able to attract more new students thus opening up opportunities for more Sabahans to further their studies, especially in technical fields,” he said.

Also present at the meeting were Deputy Chief Minister II cum Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffrey Kitingan; director of Yayasan Sabah and executive chairman of ICSB, Datuk Ghulam Haidar Khan Bahadar; Chief Forest Conservator Datuk Frederick Kugan; Board of Trustees and senior officers of Yayasan Sabah.

The Chief Minister also congratulated and welcomed the appointment of new board members, namely Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Zainudin Aman and Sabah State Education Director, Tah Nia Jaman.

He expressed hope that their cooperation will help the Sabah Foundation Group continue to excel and progress.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by THE BORNEO POST

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