PBS Youth questions Federal Govt’s sincerity to help Sabah
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Youth chief Christoper Mandut seeks clarification on why the Federal Government failed to respond to Sabah’s requests for details.
Referring to the eight requests for data on income and tax collected from Sabah over the years for calculation purposes, Mandut questioned the Federal Government’s sincerity to help.
“Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun stated this in the recently concluded State Legislative Assembly sitting that the data was meant for calculation of the 40 per cent federal net value entitlement for Sabah,” said Mandut.
He added that according to Masidi, the calculation was not complicated, but without proper data, getting the estimated or exact amount can be impossible.
“We are wondering what is keeping the respective federal agencies or departments from providing us with the data. Looks like they are not sincere in helping us,” he noted.
He, therefore, called on the relevant departments and agencies to speed up the process and provide the Sabah government with the necessary data and documents to enable the state claims what is owed to them.
During the recent state assembly sitting, Masidi said the Sabah government had not received a satisfying response from the federal government despite having sent eight formal requests since 2022 for data required to calculate Sabah’s 40 per cent nett revenue entitlement.
He said the Deputy Prime Minister had given a year to discuss this matter. If both sides still cannot agree on the matter come end of July this year, then the state government has the option to appoint an independent evaluator.
Masidi said once the deadline has passed, the Sabah government will carry out demands for the revenue rights in phases without complete data from the federal government, with the demanded amount to be based on the state’s own assumed calculations.