KUCHING, Nov 23: Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii questions the State government’s strategy to revise the quantum of the special grant under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution after rejecting an initial increase for it which was done under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
“This is after we stood up in Parliament to question the reason for the reduction of the special grant when Perikatan Nasional (PN) took over and since then they have reduced it by half of what was increased by Pakatan Harapan.
“The finance minister at that time revealed that the governments of Sabah and Sarawak have rejected retaining the higher payment instituted during PH’s time, given the ongoing revenue-sharing talks,” the Democratic Action Party (DAP) said in a statement issued today.
He added that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili, on Budget 2022, revealed that Sabah and Sarawak have requested for a postponement of the special committee to review the special grant under the Article 112D meeting.
“However, I stood up in Parliament to question the rationale of such decision. Even if they retained the higher payment, that doesn’t mean that they still cannot revise and negotiate a more equitable figure.
“I strongly asserted that the government should have maintained the payment instead of reverting until a decision on the new revenue sharing amount is decided by the reviewing committee.
“Instead, as a result, both Sabah and Sarawak have lost out on additional funding for the past two years because such talks and negotiations have somehow taken a back seat and not (been) prioritised even though it involves their rights and needs.”
Dr Yii said during the engagement session and talks with Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz before the Budget 2022 vote, PH specifically demanded that more be given to Sabah and Sarawak given their vast needs.
“As a result, the finance minister announced an additional RM500 million each to Sarawak and Sabah.
“Without such demand and engagement, such increase would not have happened. However, even with this increase, it is still inadequate and more still needs to be done to correct the imbalance(d) development in Sabah and Sarawak.
“But more importantly, I demanded that all expenditures must be used transparently in an accountable manner to make sure it meets the development needs of the people,” he said. — DayakDaily
