KOTA KINABALU – The new negotiation pertaining to Sabah’s special allocation must be better than the existing allocation of 40% of Sabah’s net revenue collected by the federal government, said Kadamaian rep Datuk Ewon Benedick.
United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation vice-president said that since the federal government has decided to restudy the matter that is stipulated under Article 112C of the federal constitution, the outcome must be better than the existing one.
This follows the statement by Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz through his oral reply in Parliament on March 3 that the special allocation no longer applies.
“All Parliament members, state assemblymen, and cabinet ministers have vowed to uphold the federal constitution when swearing into their positions.
“The formula of returning 40% of federal revenue in Sabah to the Sabah government is still stipulated in Article 112 C and D of the federal constitution to date.
“Hence, it is our responsibility as the people’s representatives to ensure that the federal constitution, including the special allocation to the Sabah state government, must be obeyed and implemented,” he said in a statement today.
He said Tengku Zafrul, on March 3, had also stated that the federal government and Sabah state government had just finalised negotiations pertaining to the special allocation and the outcome will be announced by the prime minister and Sabah chief minister soon.
“The new formula must be better than the original formula stated in the federal constitution. If not, it will be a huge loss to the people of Sabah. The chief minister (Datuk Seri Hajiji Mohd Noor) must provide an explanation on this during the state assembly sitting.
“I will raise this issue in the Sabah legislative assembly sitting next week. Explanations must be given on how much the federal government had collected from Sabah each year and how much was supposed to be returned to the Sabah government based on the 40% formula,” he said.
Ewon said that he will be taking part in the debate session in the assembly sitting that will be conducted starting tomorrow until Thursday.
“I will raise this matter as well as the Sulu’s claim on Sabah, the Nature Conservation Agreement, issuance of foreigner cards as well as development needs in Kadamaian,” he added. – The Vibes, March 20, 2022
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