KOTA KINABALU, Saturday, 22 November 2025:
The highly defensive reaction by the Minister of Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship, Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe, regarding the Sabah Trade Centre (STC) betrays a hidden anxiety. When a Minister becomes so sensitive to legitimate public inquiry, we must ask a critical question: Is this concern genuinely about safety, or have we touched a raw nerve regarding the future of this seven-acre prime land in Likas?
Some government buildings also have NO O.C.
Datuk Phoong relies on the “lack of an Occupation Certificate (O.C.)” as his primary excuse to close the Trade Centre at Likas. This argument is sheer hypocrisy. He should know that several government buildings also do NOT have O.C. I enclose herewith the OFFICIAL answer of the government at the last Legislative Assembly on 24 April 2024. There are four Sabah Government buildings and 44 schools without occupation certificates. Will he ask that those buildings be closed down?
Perhaps, the minister should check whether his own office at the Ministry of Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship (MIDE) has a valid O.C. or not. His office is located at Wisma Kewangan, formerly the Secretariat Building, which is over 60 years old yet deemed safe to occupy.
In contrast, the Sabah Trade Centre is only 38 years old.
This selective safety narrative appears to be a smokescreen to justify the forced abandonment of the building.
The reality is that the STC is dilapidated solely because of the Minister’s interference to force its closure, leaving it vacant and vulnerable to vandals. I urge Datuk Phoong to visit the site personally to witness the destruction his decision has caused.
Is this another Likas KOSAN building eviction case?
This deliberate neglect suggests that the ultimate goal is to declare the building unsafe to facilitate a development deal. This mirrors the failed Urban Renewal Act (URA) playbook proposed by Federal Minister Nga Kor Ming (DAP) which sought powers to demolish old buildings and seize land.
The public deserves to know if this same strategy is being used to grab prime land in Likas. Is this another KOSAN building eviction case?
Solve STAR CITY and Pacificity instead
Instead of targeting a functional asset like the STC, the Minister should focus on resolving actual abandoned projects that mar the city image. The public is still waiting for the resolution of the KK One project, formerly known as Star City, which Datuk Phoong promised to solve in the 16th State Legislative Assembly. As his party boss Anthony Loke is the Federal Minister of Transport, the aviation height issues stalling the project should have been resolved by now.
Furthermore, since Datuk Phoong intends to shift from the Luyang constituency to Likas, he must address the abandoned Pacific City project which has been a longstanding complaint of Warisan leader Dato Seri Winston Liaw. The Minister owes an explanation to the people and to Winston Liaw on his plans for that real eyesore.
Meanwhile, Likas is already served by the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC). We do not need a land grab disguised as redevelopment at the Sabah Trade Centre.
Datuk Yong Teck Lee
President of SAPP
Ex-CM