Sabah assemblyman demands crackdown on foreigners fronting shops under locals’ names

KOTA KINABALU, April 29 — Usukan assemblyman Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis wants action taken on foreigners running businesses using Sabahans’ names and cited Pakistani-manned sundry shops statewide that are killing local businesses.

“This is not just a business issue. It is an issue of local economic sovereignty,” she said when debating the Head of State Policy Speech, Tuesday.

“How can our small business owners compete or break into bigger markets when they are already drowning at home, pressured by foreign monopolies using all sorts of business tricks?”

Munirah cited the situation in Kota Belud and Tenghilan showing a pattern of foreign nationals taking over retail trade one sector at a time, with Pakistani-run shops now including tyre outlets that operate round the clock.

“Many of these Pakistani traders do not pay minimum wage, issue handwritten calculator receipts instead of proper invoices and change prices of controlled goods at will. This is very unhealthy for Sabahans.

“If we can unite and boycott foreign products for solidarity with Palestine, why can we not support our own people? Those shops are not Bajau, not Iranun, not Dusun. They are Pakistani,” she said, calling on the public to support only local-run businesses.

She called for joint operations by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, district offices and immigration to go after businesses licensed under a Sabahan’s name but run by foreign nationals without valid work permits.

She demanded that such licences be cancelled on the spot with no exceptions.

Alternatively, she proposed that certain business categories be made completely off-limits to foreign involvement and called for a shared digital database of business licences across local councils, district offices and the Ministry of Entrepreneurship to ensure government aid reaches only genuine local business owners.

Munirah also said that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East involving Iran and the United States, now in its 59th day, hits Sabah far harder than any other state in Malaysia due to three serious gaps the State has yet to fix.

She said Sabah has no oil storage facility should supply be cut off, still relies heavily on diesel for electricity generation, something she said the Deputy Prime Minister himself has acknowledged and imports the bulk of its food, including 80 per cent of its rice, 90 per cent of its meat, 50 per cent of its vegetables and 70 per cent of its fertiliser.

“With these three factors, Sabah will face a dangerous situation,” she said, adding, “We need to be honest with the people of Sabah about this.”

She also raised concern that rising construction material costs, already higher in Sabah than in Peninsular Malaysia even before the conflict, could slow down ongoing road, water and electricity projects if prices spike further.

She said the expected El Nino this year adds another layer of risk. In view of this, she proposed that the Government push for a special Sabah-specific price variation clause with the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Public Works Ministry, based on actual market prices in Sabah rather than a national average.

She urged the government to negotiate with Petronas to lock in a stable bitumen supply for the Pan Borneo Sabah highway at a special price ceiling and called for a review of spending limits for high-impact rural projects to keep pace with rising construction material costs.

“If we are always in denial mode, when will we ever change?” she said.

Munirah questioned whether Sabah’s RM7.6 billion manufacturing investment figure is driven by a single project, asking how much actually benefits local businesses and Sabahan workers.

She also urged the Kota Belud District Council to apply a more measured approach to assessment rates, saying a small town cannot be compared to major urban centres and any increase should be gradual.

Separately, she called for a clear account of how Petronas’ petroleum cash payments to the State Government are being used for poverty eradication, urging that oil company social programmes be inclusive and genuinely felt by the poor.

“We cannot use the same speed and the same methods if we say we are already 20 years behind,” she said. “If others are walking, Sabahans should already be running.”

She called on every assemblyman to discuss sensitive issues affecting Sabah, including the Malaysia Agreement 1963, state borders and the addition of parliamentary seats, collectively within the assembly before taking any public stand.

“The MA63 does not belong exclusively to Warisan. But it is also not the property of GRS, PBS, Umno or PBRS. It belongs to every Sabahan,” she said.

“In this assembly, we can fight over party politics. But we must be of one heart as Sabahans.” — Daily Express