By Nigel Edgar
KUCHING, March 31: The federal government is in the midst of reviewing the special grant to be allocated to Sarawak.
Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Chong Chieng Jen said the special grant to be allocated to Sarawak, according to a provision in the Federal Constitution, is supposed to be reviewed every five years since 1969 but was never done under the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government.
However, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, through its special cabinet committee that oversees the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) discussion between the federal government, Sarawak and Sabah, is in the midst of reviewing it, and, in principle, agreed it should be revised upwards.
“I’m pleased to inform Sarawak that there are negotiations now being carried out by the Cabinet Committee on MA63 to revise or review upwards the special grant to be given to the state.
“The whole mechanism is now under discussion, and it would be decided very soon.
“On how much to increase, in principle, everyone agreed it should be increased. This is the wrong that has been done by BN, and we want to right it. So, soon a decision will be made. Soon a mechanism will be formulated and soon, despite the fact that the state government is not part of the federal government, this special grant will be increased,” Chong told reporters here this morning. — DayakDaily
