Sabah mulls revenue claim evaluators
The Sabah government is considering appointing independent evaluators in its bid to reclaim revenue rights from the federal government.
State Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said this action would be taken if the federal government did not make a decision on the matter.
The state government is claiming 40 per cent of state revenue from the federal government.
“We were given a year from July last year to discuss it. We take that as a promise.
“If after July there is still no agreement between the state and federal governments, it will be up to us to take the option in appointing independent evaluators.
“After July, we will demand (the revenue rights) by phases without complete data from the federal government.
“We will make our assumption based on data announced by federal agencies and make the calculation on how much we should claim.”
He said this in a reply to Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin (Umno-Lamag) at the state assembly. Bung Moktar had asked whether there was a need to appoint independent evaluators to assess Sabah’s revenue claim.
Masidi said Sabah had sent eight requests to the federal government but had yet to get any proper data.
Earlier, state Assistant Finance Minister Tan Lee Fatt said Sabah had submitted to the federal government its calculation for the Special Grant for 2021, using the formula in Article 112C and Part IV of the 10th Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
“Under the current federal government, through the Technical Committee Meeting of the Implementation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MTPMA63) No. 01/2023 held on July 18, 2023, the decision reached is that both the federal government and Sabah government will continue negotiations to finalise the Special Grant formula.
“Furthermore, the state government had established the Special Grant Review Committee for Sabah to review and finalise the value of the Special Grant. This committee is chaired jointly by the attorney-general of Sabah and the permanent secretary of the Finance Ministry of Sabah.
“The committee members include legal advisers to the chief minister, director of the state Economic Planning Unit, state treasurer, and an independent adviser,” he said.
Tan said the committee would review the original formula for the Special Grant and the term “net revenue”.
“Since negotiations on the Special Grant amount began, the federal government has paid RM125.6 million in 2022 and RM300 million in 2023, which the state government agreed to accept as interim settlements.
“I would like to remind all present that matters concerning this Special Grant are being negotiated, and I am confident that the talks between the federal and state governments will yield the results we have long awaited, for the people of this state.”