SANDAKAN, June 1 — The Sabah state cabinet has decided to set up a council to revitalise Sandakan’s economy.

Known as the Sandakan Economic Redevelopment Council, it will be chaired by Sabah Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Frankie Poon.

"Under the council, there will be three sub-committees — steering, technical and implementation.

"Projects will be verified by the technical committee, which will then pass on to the implementation committee to work out how to carry out the projects before referring to the steering committee for consideration,” Poon told a press conference here today.

Poon, who is also Tanjung Papat state assemblyman, said the steering committee would then present the plans to the state cabinet for approval.

"Once the cabinet approves, implementation of the projects would be undertaken by the various ministries concerned,” he added.

Poon also said the council would discuss short-, medium- and long-term plans to ensure progress in Sandakan’s economic development.

He said among the priorities in the short-term plan, which is for three years, is the expansion of the Sandakan Airport runway, work for which is expected to commence sometime this year.

Medium- and long-term plans would be six and 10 years respectively, he said.

Poon said Sandakan had been lagging behind in terms of economic development and this had concerned Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal during the Sandakan parliamentary by-election last month.

"He (Mohd Shafie) heard of a lot of issues and wants those issues resolved immediately,” he added. — Bernama