KOTA KINABALU – Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor has allayed concerns over its claim on 40% of the state’s revenue, saying it has not been revoked despite the recent state grant review conducted between the state and the previous federal government.
He said the agreed special grant rate last April was only an interim arrangement and the state has made it known to Putrajaya that the 40% revenue sharing formula as stated in the federal constitution still stands.
“I am aware that the recent increased rate to RM125.6 million is still far lower than what Sabah should be getting based on the federal constitution and the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“I wish to stress here that the recent hike in the rate was accepted without prejudice and on the ground that it is an interim arrangement.
“We have stressed on the state’s rights and (revenue entitlement) based on the original 40% formula as stated in Article 112C and Part IV of Schedule 10 of the federal constitution.
“On the same note, we also demand backdated payment since there has been no new reviews since 1973,” he said in his state Finance Ministry winding-up speech here today.
He noted the same interim arrangement was made by past governments over the same matter in the past.
According to Hajiji, he and the then prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had issued a joint statement on the interim arrangement regarding the special grant on April 14.
Hajiji, who was a member of the M63 review committee chaired by Ismail Sabri, said the interim arrangement was only for five years – from this year until 2026.
He reiterated the review does not revoke the 40% revenue sharing formula for Sabah as stipulated in the federal constitution.
Hajiji pointed out the previous Warisan-led Sabah government had also entered a similar interim arrangement on the special grant with the then Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government on October 18, 2019.
However, Hajiji said he had revoked the old arrangement as the amount granted was too low, adding that the Sarawak government had also rejected the agreed rates.
The PH government had only doubled the annual grant from RM26.7 million to RM53 million, while the new rate under the Perikatan Nasional-led government increased from RM26.7 million to RM125.6 million.
The chief minister said Sabah would not be able to receive any payments from the federal government if it decided to revoke the latest interim arrangement.
He has also spoken to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim about the unpaid 40% grant to the state, which goes back to 1974, and Anwar has assured he will consider the state’s demand seriously.
Earlier, Assafal P. Alian (Tungku-Warisan) and Datuk Darell Leiking (Moyog-Warisan) had quizzed the chief minister over the issue.
Leiking had earlier sought for the state to revoke the interim arrangement made last April, while Assafal noted the 40% entitlement had been revoked in the 1970 federal gazette.
Assafal has asked the state government to revoke the old gazette. – The Vibes, December 1, 2022
