Not enough money to pay Sabah now
KOTA KINABALU: The federal government will give Sabah its 40 percent net revenue as stipulated under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) when the country’s financial situation improves, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday.
Lim said the federal government wanted to return what is owed to Sabah but does not have enough money now.
“But how can we do it if we don’t have enough money?” Lim said during a press conference at the Sabah DAP congress here yesterday.
He said the federal government had set up a special committee to look into matters relating to the state revenue and MA63.
He urged the people of Sabah to give the federal government the chance to improve the financial situation before fulfilling the pledge made in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto.
Even though the special grant is Sabah’s constitutional right, Lim said the people should also understand that if the federal government suffered financial troubles, all the other states including Sabah would also be affected.
“Let us get our financial situation back on track first, we want to prevent Malaysia from going bankrupt,” he said.
He also urged the people to understand what the challenging fiscal situation the country is facing at the moment because of the various scandals we inherited from the previous government, including the 1MDB scandal.
“Because of these scandals, we have lost the ability to do what we want to do and what we ought to do. 1MDB caused Malaysia to lose RM50 billion. Just imagine what we can do with the money. All this money, Jho Low has taken,” he said, referring to fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho.
Under Budget 2019, he said the federal government had shown respect towards Sabah by giving an additional allocation of RM1 billion compared to the previous government.
Lim said the money is given specifically for Sabah and not shared with other states which showed the federal government’s appreciation towards Sabah and its people.
“Even the emolument for Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) personnel have been increased,” he said.
He said that the development funds for ESSCom were increased from RM36.7 million in 2018 to RM74.5 million for 2019.
As for emolument, Lim said it was increased from the existing RM14.9 million to RM17 million for 2019. Funds for ESSCom services have also risen from RM19.2 million to RM25.6 million for 2019.
He said it was unfair to say that the federal government was not keeping its word or not taking care of Sabah when they are doing their best to revive the economy due to past debts, including RM50 billion from 1MDB.
“We also have to pay the Goods and Services Tax (GST) returns next year and it is a huge amount, we hope the people can be patient,” he said.
“We are talking about the future, on whether we will fulfil the obligation to give back 40% of the net revenue the federal government derived from Sabah. I can only say it depends on our financial capability,” he added.