KOTA KINABALU – Penampang MP Datuk Darell Leiking has taken federal minister Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili to task for not taking necessary action first on the state’s 40% revenue entitlement and instead waiting for Sabah to make its claim.
The opposition leader said that Ongkili, who is minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Sabah and Sarawak affairs, would do better if he brings about a memorandum to the federal cabinet and get them to agree to implement the constitutional 40% formula.
Ongkili had told reporters last night that the Sabah government should state its claim over the non-implementation of the 40% revenue entitlement and the alleged sum owed by the federal government after being paid with a fixed amount since 1974.
The PBS president claimed that he can only facilitate a meeting over these issues when such a complaint is lodged.
Under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the federal constitution, Sabah is entitled to 40% of the revenue collected by the federal government from the state in the form of an annual special grant.
Speaking to The Vibes, Leiking said that Ongkili acting on his accord as a federal minister would eliminate bureaucracies that are already causing delays to the matter.
“So just bring a memorandum to the cabinet on the 40% entitlement and get the entire cabinet to agree on enforcing or implementing the Article 112C formula since by Maximus’ own words, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob as prime minister is very open and listens to Sabah.
“In any event, there is no need for Sabah to complain as so many MPs had complained over the same issue in Parliament, with the most recent being Warisan’s MP Azis Jamman and Munirah Majlis, when the Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz has revealed Article 112C formula was no longer relevant,” he added.
Article 112C refers to the special grants and assignments of revenue for both Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak.
In the case of Sabah, the state is entitled to two-fifths or 40% of the revenue that the federal government collects from the state, as stated under Part IV of the Tenth Schedule.
Leiking, who is Warisan deputy president, is a former federal minister of international trade and industry.
Ongoing talks on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) with regard to the 40% annual special grant assigned to Sabah is already put in the backburner when it was decided to increase the fixed amount of grant to over four-fold from RM26.7 million this year.
Leiking said that the present federal government has already been in power since March 2020, but it has yet to settle all the state rights.
Efforts to realise the state rights under the MA63 were started during the recent 18-month reign of Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Warisan over Putrajaya, he said.
He noted that 17 out of 21 MA63 issues were resolved during the PH-Warisan rule when the late Datuk VK Liew was the law minister then.
“The last four issues should have been completed if not fairly within 12 months since Maximus took the role of minister of Sabah and Sarawak affairs in March 2020,” he said.
Negotiations on MA63 in relation to the special annual grant are now entering talks between Sarawak and the federal government.
In February, Ongkili had hailed the state and the federal governments for endorsing all resolutions brought forth in the Joint Consultative Committee on the review of the Sabah special annual grant as per Article 112D of the federal constitution.
Article 112D refers to the need for the review of the special grant every five years.
However, such a review was reportedly never carried out prior to this. – The Vibes, May 6, 2022
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