KOTA KINABALU – Sabah has not given up its right to a 40% share of revenue generated by the state, as it is a fundamental term agreed to in the formation of Malaysia in 1963, state Assistant Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said today.
Last week, federal Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the revenue share deal with Sabah was no longer applicable as it was deemed to be outside the federal government’s financial capacity.
Masidi, who leads the Sabah team in ongoing talks with Putrajaya on the revenue split, said the state government will not budge on this issue.
“The 40% is non-negotiable,” he said when interjecting on the debate of the governor’s speech by Ewon Benedick (Kadamaian-Upko).
Ewon had earlier asked about the status of negotiations between the state and federal governments on an ongoing review of the share of revenue Sabah earns from its resources.
“What is happening right now is that there are terms that we have agreed to and some still being negotiated,” Masidi said in response to Ewon’s question.
Tengku Zafrul had said last week that an upwards revision of the current revenue-sharing formula would be announced soon.
Sabah has been receiving a fixed annual payout of RM26.7 million from the federal government since 1973 as a share of revenue generated by the state, after both sides failed to come to a consensus on the percentage split during two reviews in 1969 and 1973.
Political leaders in Sabah have argued that the federal government had reneged on the 40% revenue share deal they said was agreed upon under the Malaysia Agreement, which brought Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore, and Malaya under one federation. – The Vibes, March 21, 2022
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