KOTA KINABALU, Feb 2 — Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal today launched the Electronic Planning Permission (ePP) system which will serve as a facilitator for developers to speed up the approval process for development plans in Sabah

The system was developed by the Sabah Local Government and Housing Ministry in collaboration with Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) and the State Computer Services Department.

Mohd Shafie said the ePP system was one of the state government’s proactive steps in persuading investors to invest in the state.

"The ePP system was created following a lot of complaints from developers and investors who faced difficulties in obtaining development approvals besides the process took a long time sometimes stretching up to even 10 years.

"Through the ePP system, developers can understand and know what they have to do to get the approval for the development through the portal provided. There’s no need to do it manually," he told reporters after launching the system today.

Mohd Shafie said the ePP system would be able to prevent corruption, reduce costs due to a fast approval time and prevent the construction of abandoned buildings as developers had to first complete the set criteria such as Environmental Impact Assessment before obtaining building approval.

For a start, he said DBKK was appointed as the first Temporary Stop Centre to issue conditional approval letters within 24 hours.

Based on the Self Compliance method, all applicants were asked to liaise directly with the state and federal technical departments within three to six months to get the technical reviews, he said.

"All development in large cities will be managed through the ePP system, while the smaller districts will be managed according to zone,” he said, adding that the ePP system would be extended to the Sandakan Municipal Council and the Tawau Municipal Council by June. — Bernama