Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor (in red) at an event in Kota Belud, Sabah. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: Sabah chief minister Hajiji Noor has expressed confidence that negotiations on returning 40% of revenue collected in the state to the Sabah government will be completed within three months, as directed by the High Court.
Hajiji said official discussions began yesterday, led by state secretary Safar Untong on behalf of the Sabah government and Treasury secretary-general Johan Mahmood Merican representing Putrajaya.
“The state secretary has informed me that they have met with the federal officials on the mechanism for the 40% (revenue), how the payment will be made, and so on.
“So let’s wait… We still have time. The court gave us 90 days for discussions before the federal and state governments make a decision,” he said at an event in Kota Belud, Sabah, today.
The Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) chairman said the details of the mechanism were technical and would require several rounds of discussions before both governments reach an agreement.
“The details cannot be explained now. So let us wait. They may discuss many times before an agreement is reached,” he added.
Yesterday, deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof announced the formation of a special committee co-chaired by Safar and Johan to work on the mechanism to implement Sabah’s 40% net revenue entitlement under MA63.
Fadillah said Putrajaya had decided not to appeal the entitlement and wanted to work on how to implement what was already provided in the constitution.
On Oct 17, the Kota Kinabalu High Court ordered the federal government to conduct a review with Sabah within 90 days and complete it within 180 days.
Justice Celestina Stuel Galid ruled that Sabah was entitled to 40% of all net revenue collected by Putrajaya from the state for every financial year from 1974 to 2021, and declared previous grant arrangements unlawful and unconstitutional.
