KOTA KINABALU: Opposition Parti Warisan wants the state government to address unemployment as the latest official figures show about 165,000 Sabahans are looking for jobs, says its vice president Datuk Junz Wong.
He said the latest report by the Statistics Department indicates the state's unemployment rate has risen to a troubling 8.71% in 2024 from 7.3% in 2023.
"This rate is the highest in Malaysia, with more than 165,000 Sabahans struggling to find jobs," he said, questioning Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) on its efforts to resolve the unemployment issue.
He said the high unemployment rate contradicts the state government's claim that the targeted hardcore poverty group has been lifted out of poverty.
"How can the Chief Minister claim success in eradicating hardcore poverty when our people are still facing severe economic and employment challenges?" Wong, the Tanjung Aru assemblyman, asked in a statement on Wednesday (Aug 21).
Wong said statements on hardcore poverty eradication seem politically motivated with the state elections looming.
"Is this a joke? Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor is painting a rosy picture as we near elections, but the reality on the ground tells a different story," Wong contended.
Wong challenged the GRS-Pakatan Harapan state government to provide a comprehensive report detailing Sabah's current economic situation.
"The government needs to disclose genuine data on unemployment rates, poverty rates, and inflation rates," Wong said, urging that statements of success do not reflect the reality on the ground.
"If the economic situation in Sabah is as good as claimed, why are our people still suffering? Why are the prices of goods still high?
"It’s clear that the initiatives and policies implemented by the state government have not sufficiently addressed the core issues," he added.
"Full transparency and detailed statistics are the only ways for the public to truly understand the effectiveness of the policies claimed as successes," he added.
