The former Parti Berjaya leader urged the federal government to create Tourism Labuan and empower the people of Labuan, by introducing “positive policies that will encourage investment away from dependence on the public sector”.

Harris said it was possible that the federal government did not have any funds to develop Labuan although the island was totally dependent on it.

“Tourism can replace the oil and gas industries which have collapsed.

“As a result, the economic situation is very serious. It’s so bad that some parents have no money to buy milk powder for their babies,” the daily quoted Harris as saying.

Harris, who as Sabah Chief Minister had allowed Labuan to become a federal territory in 1984, also painted a very negative picture on the future of the island, saying the population of the federal territory in Sabah had fallen from 100,000 to 70,000, with those remaining being mostly “sitting ducks” and having no future.

“What’s the economy of Labuan?” he asked. “The answer is nothing the people can look forward to. They are losing hope.

“Labuan is totally dependent on the salaries the federal government pays its staff,” Harris said, according to Daily Express.

He also cautioned that the economy of Labuan will get worse with the eventual completion of the Pan-Borneo Highway, unless the Labuan-Sabah bridge was undertaken as well.

Expounding on the weak economic situation in Labuan, Harris said the population was too small for manufacturing, even for small and medium industries (SME).

He also claimed that the Labuan Shipyard had recently announced retrenchment of staff.

“Even Petronas has moved from the island to Sabah and Sarawak, while foreign oil and gas companies have either scaled down their operations or shut down.”