KOTA KINABALU, April 24 — The Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry (KePKAS) is in the final process of preparing standard operating procedures (SOP) for the Sabah-Malaysia My Second Home (SBH-MM2H) programme scheduled to commence in May, the state assembly sitting was told today.
Its minister, Datuk Christina Liew said the thorough preparation of the SOP is to ensure the SBH-MM2H programme will would be easier and able to be adapted by applicants after Cabinet ministers had examined whether to approve the SBH-MM2H application criteria last week.
“The ministry expects to begin receiving applications for participation in the SBH-MM2H programme from as early as the end of May,” she said.
She said this when winding up the debate on the motion of thanks for the Sabah Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin’s policy speech involving her ministry at the assembly.
On April 17, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the Cabinet had approved the applicant’s age limit criteria to 30 years and above for the SBH-MM2H programme; and allowed programme participants to sell their properties after five years on condition they must buy a new house worth no less than RM600,000 and the SBH-MM2H agent must be from a local Sabah company.
Liew said her ministry will also pay a working visit to Kuala Lumpur to meet with embassies of countries which have issued travel advisories to their citizens going to Sabah.
She also said the purpose for this visit was to assure these embassies that Sabah, especially the east coast, is a safe state to visit for their respective citizens because this has a direct impact on tourist arrivals to the area.
“The ministry submitted views in (this) context and perspective as well as the impact on the state’s tourism in the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) under the Movement Control Order Implementation Effectiveness Study,” she added. — Bernama
