KOTA KINABALU – Warisan Sepanggar MP Datuk Mohd Azis Jamman has accused Putrajaya of having secretly robbed Sabah off its 40% revenue entitlements for over five decades.
The former deputy home affairs minister said in a statement today that he had obtained a federal gazette from Parliament on changes to the special grants, which had supposedly been kept under wraps for 52 years.
The gazette stated that Article 112C, which provides for the special grants to the Borneo states, had undergone revision and was invalidated.
The revision was carried out as per Article 112D of the federal constitution from 1969 to 1973.
“The matter came to my attention after sighting an explanatory letter by Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz to Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun.
“In it, Zafrul explained he did not mislead Parliament over his explanation that the 40% revenue entitlement was no longer applicable, following my demands for disciplinary action against him,” he claimed.
Azis also claimed that Putrajaya had kept the gazette a secret, adding that it revealed that the federal administration and Sabah state government had agreed on September 1, 1969 to obtain a special grant at a fixed rate of RM26.7 million.
The consensus was gazetted on September 17, 1970 and was classified as “secret”.
The Warisan lawmaker said it was not available on the government’s website on basic search.
However, he believed that Putrajaya should have reverted to the 40% formula, as the gazette was made during the Emergency Ordinance on May 16, 1969, which was imposed due to the May 13 riots.
Although the riots did not happen in Sabah and Sarawak, Azis argued the federal government should have reverted to the 40% formula, given that the emergency ordinance was lifted in 2011.
He also alleged that the gazette did not go through the proper procedure, as it came into power when the emergency was still in force.
Azis added that the special grant provisions are a constitutional matter and stressed that the gazette should have been voided.
On March 14, Azis had pressed Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor to explain the confusion that arose following Zafrul’s statement that the 40% special grant formula was no longer applicable.
Today, Hajiji told the Sabah assembly that the state government has made it a top priority to continue pursuing the 40% revenue return from the federal government. – The Vibes, March 24, 2022
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