I highly welcome and thank the Pakatan Harapan Federal Government in giving exemption to the intrastate flights within Sabah and Sarawak from Sales and Services Tax (SST) and this hopefully will result in the reduction of airfare cost within the two states, which will further promote the more travels both among locals and tourist in this region.
This exemption should reduce the burden of consumers including tax exemption on intrastate flight tickets which I hope could reduce the cost of flying within Sarawak and within Sabah. This shows the PH Federal government gives special concern and understand the needs of Sabah and Sarawak which rely heavily on ‘air travel’ due to the big land area that we have, and also the lack of proper road connections to different places in the State.
This will also directly be a boost to our tourism industry in the State including encouraging Malaysians to travel locally. This also enables more locals and tourist to enjoy the different tourist attraction in the State while boosting the economy through local spending and also providing jobs for the locals especially those involved in the tourist industry. With more travels within the 2 States, the hotels, taxi drivers, handicraft, food hawkers and many other can benefit from the increase of flights and tourist activities in the 2 States.
Our country’s economy has been slow due to corruption, bad governance and over spending by the previous Barisan Nasional government. The tax exemption is a good way and a step in the right direction to further promote local spending, build businesses and also help increase job opportunities for the locals in both Sabah and Sarawak.
This will serve as an opportunity for the State Government to promote the different touristic places in Sarawak not just among the foreign tourist, but also among the locals. Sarawak is rich with all kinds of natural beauty and eco-tourism potential, that we do not have to travel far to enjoy such attractions.
Thus, I encourage the State Tourism Board to take this opportunity not just to promote the different tourist attraction in the State, but also do proper maintenance and beautification of the current ones that we have so that we all can fully enjoy the beauty of Sarawak together.
I again welcome the move by the Federal Pakatan Harapan government, and do believe it is a step in the right direction and the State will definitely benefit from this move.