DATUK PATINGGI TAN SRI ABANG JOHARI, fondly known as ‘Abang Jo’ among Sarawakians was 66 years old when he was appointed as the sixth chief minister after the death of Pehin Sri Adenan Satem on Jan 11, 2017.
Following his appointment, Abang Johari assured that he would continue the good policies introduced by his predecessors while introducing new initiatives to develop Sarawak, ensuring the interests of various ethnic groups in the state.
He also took a bold step to form Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), which consists of four local component parties, namely Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB); Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS); Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) and Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), to continue the fight in restoring the rights and position of Sarawak as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Under his leadership, Sarawak acquired the entire equity interest in Sarawak Hidro Sdn Bhd (SHSB) — which owns and operates the Bakun Hydroelectric Plant (HEP) — from the Ministry of Finance Inc and Federal Lands Commissioner for RM2.5 billion.
The acquisition enables the GPS government to have full ownership of all electricity generation facilities in the state and allowed Sarawak to expand its electricity supply coverage in rural areas through several approaches, such as the Rural Electrification Scheme (RES), Rural Power Supply Scheme (RPSS) and Sarawak Alternative Rural Electrification Scheme (Sares).
In December 2017, Abang Johari launched the Digital Economy Policy 2018-2022 comprising 47 strategic initiatives, to digitalise the state economy as a way to achieve the aspirations of becoming a high-income and developed state by 2030.
Realising the importance of education in moving the state forward, the GPS government had taken various initiatives to improve early childhood education; restoring and rebuilding dilapidated schools through the Special Allocation for Dilapidated Schools; and strengthening Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in education as well as technical and vocational education and training (TVET).
Abang Johari continues to support the Chinese independent secondary schools in Sarawak as well as Chinese primary schools, by allocating annual funds as well as to recognise Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) in Sarawak.
He also intensifies the state’s efforts in providing and bringing more infrastructure development by building Spaoh short take-off and landing airport (STOLport) – to meet the needs of the Bukit Sadok agricultural community, which required air transport to grow as an export-based rural economy centre.
Sarawak became the first state in the country to have a state-owned television station following the official launching of TV Sarawak (TVS). The state’s mobile app for cashless payments Sarawak Pay had also gone global as ‘SPay Global’ after its integration with international payment platform UnionPay last year.
Other initiatives introduced by Abang Johari included the setting up of the Development Bank of Sarawak (DBOS), to fund strategic projects; establishing Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros), to develop the state’s oil and gas industry.
GPS secretary-general Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said Abang Johari has placed full focus on Sarawak’s infrastructure and socio-economic development, both urban and rural. His are not empty promises.
He said Sarawak’s struggle in claiming its rights as contained in the MA63, one of which was to secure larger financial resources, was for the benefit of its people.
Citing the implementation of the five per cent sales tax on exported petroleum products, he said, had enabled Sarawak to get an additional RM3 billion a year, channelled back to the people to help them.
“The people understand why we have been working hard in asking for our rights… asking for this five per cent payment, so the government will use it for projects, to handle COVID-19 food baskets. Everything has been done,” Nanta said.
He said the rapid rate of full vaccination in Sarawak prior to this was also contributed by the Sarawak government through its own funds to help the Ministry of Health (MOH) teams cover remote areas.
