PROMINENT Sabah lawyer Datuk Roger Chin has cast doubt on the significance of the upcoming June 30 deadline to resolve the state’s 40% revenue entitlement, stressing that the date will not affect the judicial review, which is proceeding to a full hearing on July 7.
Chin, who filed the review on behalf of the Sabah Law Society (SLS) during his tenure as its president in late 2022, said similar deadlines in the past had failed to yield any progress — and questioned the legal weight behind the latest one.
“You know how many ultimatums there have been, right? How many times have we been promised that this will be settled? I wouldn’t put too much weight on this ultimatum. I think before it’s even issued, the court’s decision will come out,” he said.
He was speaking at a legal townhall hosted by the SLS secretariat in Kota Kinabalu on Friday.
The Sabah government, via its seat in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) implementation committee, has formally requested federal revenue data 13 times to calculate what is due under the constitutional formula.
No response has been received, prompting the state to submit its own revenue estimates instead.
Some Sabah leaders have recently flagged June 30 as a make-or-break date for the federal government to resolve the matter through the MA63 Implementation Action Council’s technical committee.
In April for instance, Sabah Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun hinted that if no agreement is reached, the state may appoint an independent assessor to determine what it is owed.
Questions have arisen whether the June 30 outcome would derail the review next month.
The judicial review — now firmly scheduled for a full-day hearing at the High Court in Kota Kinabalu on July 7 — will move forward regardless of any developments from the June 30 meeting.
Chin stressed that if genuine negotiations had taken place, they would be reflected in court filings and affidavits.
“The issue isn’t what might be offered on June 30.
“The issue is what is required under the Constitution,” said Chin. — June 22, 2025
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