POLITICAL leaders in Sabah are puzzled by the prime minister’s claim regarding the RM16 billion allocation that is allegedly more than the state’s 40% revenue entitlement.
Sabah Muda expressed surprise at the figure Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mentioned, saying that the prime minister did not understand the sentiments and demands of the people in Sabah.
“The state was only allocated RM6.6 billion under the 2024 national budget. The question is, where does the RM16 billion come from?"
“The claim of 40% net revenue is different from the annual allocation given by the federal government to Sabah,” it said, adding that Anwar’s statement made it seem as if the federal government is not taking state rights seriously.
In his Kaamatan speech, Anwar said he has been facing pressure from other peninsula states and MPs asking for the same revenue-sharing formula as Sabah.
Unlike other states in the peninsula and Sarawak, only Sabah has the 40% revenue sharing formula as stated in the Federal Constitution’s Article 112C and Part IV of the Tenth Schedule.
While calling for an end to the pressure to implement state rights, Anwar said that the overall RM16 billion development funds set aside for Sabah this year exceeded 40% of the net revenue Putrajaya collected from the state for the year.
Anwar said this while repeating his vow to implement the 40% formula and other state rights, saying that a committee is overseeing the matter at present.
The RM16 billion figure that was mentioned was also heard during Anwar’s visit to Penampang late last year.
Meanwhile, Warisan supreme council member Mazliwati Abdul Malek urged the government to engage an independent assessor to determine the 40% payment.
She explained that Anwar may have been confused as she believed Anwar may have lumped together the federal development allocation and the 40% revenue sharing formula.
“40% as described are our rights, embedded in the Federal Constitution through Act 26/63 derived from MA63, different from the RM16 billion mentioned by PM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim,” she said.
Mazliwati stressed the importance of fulfilling the Malaysia Agreement 1963 rather than just stating that the federal government is working on it.
Sabah Star president Datuk Seri Jeffrey Kitingan said that the figure mentioned by Anwar did not add up to the federal projects slated for Sabah.
“This 40% must be paid because it is our right under the Federal Constitution, and we need to settle this by July 18,” he said, referring to the deadline for calculating the 40% revenue owed by Putrajaya to the state.
Sabah has agreed to a one-year negotiation period with the federal government to reach a consensus on the formula and that period will expire on July 18 this year.
Kitingan also asked how Anwar could know the 40% amount when the federal government has yet to update the state on its requests for information and numbers to calculate the entitlement figure.
“So, where is the figure (RM16 billion) coming from? I guess the officers from the federal Finance Ministry told him (Anwar) that,” he said.
Sabah has not been furnished with the data on collection of revenues from the state by the federal government to determine the calculation of revenue from the state.
Last April, Sabah Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun told the Sabah assembly that the state government has officially made eight requests to obtain the data, but to no avail.
Masidi said the state is now considering engaging an independent assessor to calculate the 40% net revenue, should there be no consensus reached between the state and the federal government on July 18. – June 2, 2024
