TO understand the foul smell emanating throughout Sandakan town is to understand its economy. Economic activity was centred along the Old Slipway and town centre, which dealt with sea transport, repairs and maintenance, barter trading. The economic drivers, the Chinese traders and business owners, have now moved inland towards “mile 4, 5 and 6” (Sandakan slang), venturing into palm oil plantations. Sandakan has the biggest number of individual-owned palm oil plantations in Sabah, the rest are owned by corporations the likes of TSH Wilmar, IOI, etc. 

Land tenure in the old Sandakan town will come to an end in less than 30 years. The town needs to be demolished rather than having its tenancy renewed by the state government. The problem of the fetid smell is endemic and no amount of cleaning up can solve this. It is not uncommon to have one’s car sprayed with human waste as the sewage drainage is clogged with sanitary pads or has burst due to old age. The vegetable traders that ply their trade in the early morning would urinate at the stairwell rather than pay to use toilets. The drainage system throughout the town is clogged, filled with trash and broken. That, too, contributes to the smell of the dying town.

Most politicians I know clamour to bring life back into Sandakan. They have no solid nor an educated approach to solving the town’s problems, which are multipronged. According to the IGC Report 1962, the federal government agreed that upon the formation of Malaysia in 1963, existing trade routes would be upheld. However, the government in the 1980s breached the agreement and made Port Klang the central shipping point, thus the birth of the cabotage policy. Now, Sandakan town flourished through sea trading when the British set foot in North Borneo, but continuation of the cabotage policy will turn Sandakan into a ghost town for good.

Among other supplementary reforms that need to be carried out is an improvement to the Local Government Ordinance 1961 for Sandakan district. Let’s face it, the town will be demolished once its tenure ends and once that happens the district must arm itself with necessary by-laws to keep the town clean. The icing on the cake will be funds from the federal government funnelled to local district councils. No, I am not talking about the monies received from the federal government through the Malaysia Plan, rather our constitutional rights, such as the 40% revenue and 30% tax collected from the Customs Departments.

The origins of the putrid stench is found in a stinking breach of agreement. We are reaping what we sow. Sandakan today is the result of a permanent receding tide and this could happen to the rest of the country. I hope it will not come to that. – June 21, 2022.

* Remy Tony Sulil Majangkim reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.