03/08/2010 (Bernama), Kota Kinabalu - Sabah has developed 1.476 million hectares of land statewide for agriculture.

Of the total, 1.31 million hectares or 89 per cent were planted with oil palm while rubber 73,290 hectares and cocoa 9,690 hectares, State Assistant Finance Minister Donald Mojuntin said Tuesday.

"Crude palm oil accounted for about 35 per cent of the total value of state exports from 2006 to 2009. Timber and forest produce only contributed about six per cent.

"These statistics show that oil palm is a major contributor to Sabah's agriculture sector and gross domestic product," he said in reply to Melanie Chia Chui Ket (SAPP-Luyang) during question time in the State Legislative Assembly.

He said that in the mining and quarrying sector, crude oil was the main contributor, rising from eight to 10 per cent in the 2006-2007 period to 14 per cent in 2008-2009.

Assistant Resource Development and Information Technology Advancement Minister Datuk Jainab Ahmad said there were 41,492 job vacancies in various industries in the state in the first seven months of 2010.

The agriculture industry recorded the highest with 25,068 vacancies, while manufacturing 4,969 and construction 2,762, she said in reply to Abdul Muis Picho (BN-Sebatik).

The number of jobseekers who managed to obtain employment was 1,200, she said.

Unattractive salary offers, lack of skills and expertise, not ready to take up jobs away from home and being too selective were among the reasons why the number of jobseekers securing jobs was low, she added.