PENAMPANG: The Youth Movement of UPKO in Penampang welcomes the concerns of the people of Sabah regarding the implementation of the mechanism for the repayment of 40 percent of federal revenues in Sabah as stipulated in Article 112C of the Federal Constitution.
Penampang UPKO Youth Chief Billy Joe Dominic said it is well known that the MA63 Technical Committee chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, Dato Seri Fadillah Yusof, during its meeting on July 18, 2023, has set a period of one year for the implementation of the special payment mechanism, until July 18, 2024.
He said the MA63 Technical Committee met on May 28, 2024, and as of this meeting, the Sabah State Government has not submitted any demands or proposals for the mechanism.
“The Sabah State Government only submitted its demands on June 18, 2024, compared to the Sarawak State Government, which submitted its demands in February 2024,” he said in a statement today.
According to Billy, the Sabah State Government also postponed the Working Committee meeting to discuss matters related to autonomy in the fields of education and health, unlike the Sarawak State Government, which has already met and successfully resolved several demands before the Technical Committee meeting.
He said the delay in submitting demands has prevented the Working Committee from meeting to discuss the 40 percent demand and has also not been able to be discussed in the Technical Committee meeting.
During the Technical Committee meeting on May 28, the three Deputy Chief Ministers of Sabah, the State Secretary, the Attorney General, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance were present and stated that the State Government could only submit demands or proposals in June.
The Sabah State Government may have its own reasons for the delay, including the postponement of the Working Committee meeting on education and health autonomy.
As such, he said it would be best if the state government also provided an explanation.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan had earlier accused the federal government of neglecting Sabah’s 40% revenue claim as the deadline passed.
