Sabah minister questions Shafie’s state revenue figures

KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah assistant minister has questioned the figures quoted by Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal for the state’s revenue.

State Assistant Finance Minister Datuk Ramlee Marahaban said Mohd Shafie was incorrect to claim that Sabah’s revenue in 1978 was almost the same as that projected for 2018, which was RM4.1bil.

He said a check with the Sabah Finance Ministry’s archives showed that state revenue was about RM479mil in 1978 while that of federal grants, contributions and reimbursements came to some RM45.8mil.

This, said Ramlee, gave a total revenue of RM524.8mil for that year.

“I have the historical records to prove this. So, where in the world did Shafie Apdal and the former state accountant-general (Tan Sri) Ibrahim Menudin get the revenue of RM4bil plus in 1978?” he said.

Ramlee said Shafie’s claim that Sabah’s revenue had remained stagnant at RM4bil over the past 40 years was made to mislead the public.

In an online portal, Shafie had said that he was not impressed with the state’s Budget 2018 with an allocation of RM4.10bil, adding that it was “nothing great”.

He also alleged that former Sabah accountant-general Ibrahim Menudin had told him that the state’s revenue when Berjaya was the main ruling party in 1978 was also RM4bil.

Ramlee said Shafie’s claim that the state revenue stood at some RM4bil in 1978 was outlandish, con- sidering that the revenue for the Federal Government in 1981 was only over RM6bil.

“There are historical records in the archives that you can’t dispute. He either did not do his homework or was intentionally trying to hoodwink the people, especially those in the rural areas,” he said.

Ramlee, who is Bugaya assemblyman, said the current Sabah administration managed to improve the state’s economy by more than 10-fold in the 40 years after the Berjaya government. Sabah under Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman, he said, had performed very well, with state revenue having grown from RM1.24bil in 2001 to RM3.69bil in 2012 before reaching RM4.58bil in 2014.

In the past four years, the state budget, said Ramlee, had consistently hovered around RM4bil.

“It should be noted that Sabah state finances under Musa have achieved a surplus account for 16 years in a row.

“So, please give credit where credit is due,” he said.