KOTA KINABALU, March 21 — On his first visit to Sabah after the September 2020 state elections and formation of the new state government, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin promised continuous development and support for the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) coalition.

Muhyiddin said that he did not take the mandate given by the people lightly and that Putrajaya has worked with the new government to bring them the development that they craved.

"The close relationship built between the Sabah GRS government and the federal government since the election last year will be continued.

"The federal government will support the Sabah GRS government 110 per cent,” he said, adding that the federal government has provided the state with financial funds and assistance without being asked.

Muhyiddin, who is on a two-day working visit to Sabah, said that although GRS has only been in power for almost six months, they have made much progress and gone from strength to strength.

"I have been in constant communication with the Sabah chief minister even though we cannot meet personally because of the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to ensure what Sabah needs will be prioritised and what needs to be done will be done,” he said.

He said this in his speech during a dinner event with the GRS party leaders here tonight.

He has a full schedule tomorrow, which includes a town hall session with civil servants at the Sabah State Administrative Centre; a visit to the Kota Kinabalu district Covid-19 vaccination centre; a courtesy call on the Sabah Yang Dipertua Negeri; the launch of a joint venture development project; and a ceremony for the signing of a memorandum of understanding on domestic and foreign investments at the Sabah International Convention Centre.

Muhyiddin will also meet the public at the Ziarah Prihatin programme involving the B40 group in Kota Kinabalu, before returning to Kuala Lumpur in the evening.

The visit is the first by Muhyiddin since GRS, which comprises Perikatan Nasional (PN), Barisan Nasional (BN) and Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), formed the Sabah government after the state election in September last year.

Meanwhile, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor thanked Muhyiddin for his commitment to the state’s welfare during the Covid-19 crisis, as well as his role in securing GRS’ win in the last state election.

"He was instrumental in the formation of GRS, and as soon as the GRS government was formed, he ordered immediate negotiations to begin between the state government and Petronas,” he said, adding that he was pleased to report that Petronas has started to pay the petroleum product sales tax of 5 per cent.