KOTA KINABALU – Sabah should take Sarawak’s cue in assigning a representative to sit on the Internal Revenue Board (IRB) to ensure the state gets its 40% revenue entitlement from the federal government, said Warisan deputy president Datuk Darell Leiking.
This comes after Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg announced that the state has submitted the name of its candidate to sit in the IRB’s board as part of efforts to realise Sarawak’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) rights and the Report of the Inter-governmental Committee 1962.
“I am not sure if the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-Barisan Nasional (GRS-BN) government of Sabah has named, or would name, any Sabahan to sit on the IRB board,” he said.
But it would give at least a semblance of justice to Sabahans to have a rep (a dutiful and responsible one) to sit as a board member.
“We need to emulate the same intentions and mission as what has been proposed by Sarawak,” the Penampang MP and former federal minister told The Vibes.
Sabah is constitutionally entitled to 40% of the net revenue federal collected from the state. Therefore, the appointment of a state rep to the board is an inherent matter, he said.
“So much has been deprived of Sabah and its actual entitlement that I urge the chief minister, Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, to do the right thing now, if he had not done so in proposing an immediate appointment of a Sabahan as member of the IRB board, specifically to monitor all revenues collected by the federal government and to report the same to Sabah annually,” he said.
Leiking added that he plans to raise the matter in the coming state assembly on July 18.
Sarawak made the proposal to have a representative in the IRB in May.
On Sunday, Johari announced that they have submitted the name in the state’s quest to ensure it receives the right amount of annual special grant under Article 112D of the federal constitution.
The top Sarawak leader was reported by Dayak Daily as having announced this during an Aidiladha event in Kuching.
“If we have a representative on the board, we will know how much revenue the country generates,” Johari was quoted as saying.
“Then from there, we will know the amount that the federal government can give us.”
“If the financial position is not good, it is also not right for us to pressure them. But if it is based on a formula, it will be easy,” he added.
The amount of revenue collected by the federal government from Sabah has never been announced to the state. – The Vibes, July 12, 2022
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