New govt discusses a lot about Sabah’s entitlement

KOTA KINABALU: The new government has discussed a lot more about Sabah’s entitlement of the 40 per cent tax revenue collected by the Federal Government in the past six months than what the previous government had done for years.

Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Darell Leiking said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Shafie Apdal, himself and his colleagues in the Federal Cabinet from Sabah had brought up the issue to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“The previous government said they had done it already, spoke about it and set up committees after committees.

“We are only in our sixth month as Federal Government and we are already talking a lot more further than what they (previous administration) had done.

“And Datuk VK Liew (de facto Law Minister) had been instructed by the Prime Minister to set up a committee to look into what Sabah should have been given all these years.”

Leiking, who is also the deputy president of Parti Warisan Sabah, concurred with Shafie’s statement that the 40 per cent net revenue was a constitutional obligation to give back to Sabah.

Back in 2013, he had asked the Federal Government on the reason only RM26.7 million was allocated for Sabah during the tabling of the budget while he was still in the opposition.

He was told that the Federal Government’s obligation to refund to Sabah the 40 per cent had been agreed at RM26.7 million in the early 70s.

“The saddest bit of it all is that they even considered inflation.

“That’s why a lot of Sabahans are not happy.”

He said that when asked to comment about Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s statement that the Federal Government’s revenue-sharing formula for Sabah and Sarawak may only be applicable after the fiscal position of Malaysia improved. Lim has explained that the government required more time or at least until next year to come up with the right revenue-sharing formulas to address the matter.

Leiking assured that the Federal Government was working on the issue of the 40 per cent tax revenue and the matter was discussed in the Federal Cabinet as well.

“The Federal Cabinet is now facing a serious problem on fiscal challenges created by the previous administration.

“It is going to be tough for us in the next few years,” he said, adding that Lim was doing his best to get the nation restarted.

He also declined to comment about Lim’s remark about revenue-sharing with Sabah and Sarawak, saying that he would make a statement after the budget was announced.