PETALING JAYA: A federal minister has urged the Sabah government to send an official demand for 40% of the federal government’s annual net revenue.
Upko president Ewon Benedick said to his knowledge, the state government had yet to submit an official request to Putrajaya on the matter.
“Sabah has been playing a waiting game all this while,” the federal entrepreneur and cooperatives development minister said, according to The Borneo Post.
Ewon said Sabah’s demands have only been made in the media through speeches in Parliament or the state assembly. He insisted that the state government submit an official demand.
The Kadamaian assemblyman also said the Sabah government did not file any official requests from 2018 to 2020, when he was a minister in the state administration.
“It therefore goes back to the state government to register its claim and send a letter of demand to the federal government for the payment. The chief minister and state Cabinet must discuss and file this demand, which is the missing link to the issue.
“I cannot file the demand on behalf of the state government as I do not represent the state government. Even though I am from Sabah, I do not have the local standi to speak on behalf of the state government.”
In July last year, Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor said the RM300 million in special grants from Putrajaya for 2023 was a clear indication that the state was on the right path towards getting its entitlement under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution.
Hajiji said he will not rest until Sabah gets what it is owed according to the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
Sabah politicians have long demanded that the federal government live up to a revenue-sharing formula stated in the constitution, by which the state will receive 40% of revenue above a certain threshold.
Use of the formula has been suspended since 1974, with the federal government paying increased special grants to Sabah and Sarawak. - FMT
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