Delegation of power for Sabah-MM2H formalised

KOTA KINABALU (Aug 28): The Federal Government, via the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac), has formalised the delegation of power to the Sabah State Government for the implementation of the Sabah-Malaysia My Second Home (Sabah-MM2H) programme.

The Secretary-General of Motac, Dato’ Roslan Tan Sri Abdul Rahman, handed over the letter of intent to the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment (KePKAS), Josie Lai Mei Sing, witnessed by its minister, Datuk Christina Liew, after a meeting between KePKAS and Motac here today.

This move followed a special meeting between Liew and Motac in Kuala Lumpur in July this year where the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Dato’ Seri Tiong King Sing informed about delegating full authority to Sabah to appoint state agents for the Sabah-MM2H programme.

Liew said with the delegation of authority for the appointment of state agents, the Sabah-MM2H programme will be under the management of KePKAS.

“This delegation of power refers to the appointment of agents by KePKAS, monitoring of the agents, and enforcement of the programme. KePKAS has its own guidelines for the appointment and issuance of licence to the agents.

“These agents need to obtain a licence to operate and assist clients in applying for participation in Sabah-MM2H.

The State Cabinet has approved the terms and conditions for participation in the programme,” Liew said, adding that any (future) reviews shall be referred to the Cabinet for approval.

The State Committee, which oversees the operations of Sabah-MM2H, is chaired by the minister, and it will meet regularly to screen applications before issuing the MM2H pass to successful applicants.

“We (KePKAS) are in the process of accepting and processing the applications of qualified agents for the necessary appointments,” Liew added.

The Sabah-MM2H programme was approved in principle by the State Government in February 2023, and officially launched on June 30 this year.

During the meeting today, Roslan called for a trilateral meeting in future between Motac, KePKAS and Sarawak’s tourism ministry to iron out any issues arising from the implementation of MM2H in Sabah and Sarawak.

“This exercise is for a good working relationship,” he said.

Also present were Motac Undersecretary (Tourism Licensing and Enforcement Division) Surya Kumar A/L Subramaniam, KePKAS Deputy Permanent Secretary I Mary Malangking, Deputy Permanent Secretary II Alesia Sion, Director of Motac Sabah Ibrahim Othman, and KePKAS Senior Assistant Secretary Norita Tani.

Meanwhile, Roslan disclosed that there was an increase in the collection of tourism tax from Sabah last year (2023) post-Covid compared to the 2019 pre-Covid level.

“It is a two-fold increase, which means Sabah is doing very well in tourism. We (Motac) have returned 50 per cent of the tax (collected) back to Sabah,” he said, while expressing his interest in visiting Sabah’s tourism hotspots such as the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary and idyllic islands off Semporna.