By Daniel John Jambun, Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo)
KOTA KINABALU: Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) rejects the RM12 billion Sabah development announcement as a political numbers game designed to create illusion, not deliver reality.
Let us be absolutely clear:
Sabah does not suffer from lack of announcements. Sabah suffers from lack of constitutional compliance.
1. RM12 BILLION — REAL MONEY OR PAPER FIGURE?
The so-called RM12 billion allocation under the 13th Malaysia Plan is not actual funding.
It is merely an “allocation ceiling” over five years — subject to federal discretion, approval, and fiscal convenience.
Sabahans must ask:
How much of this is actually funded?
How much is guaranteed annually?
How much is dependent on Putrajaya’s political priorities?
Without answers, this RM12 billion is not development — it is deception.
2. THE REAL ISSUE: SABAH’S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT IS BEING DENIED
While billions are being announced in headlines, the Federal Government continues to avoid the fundamental issue:
Sabah’s constitutional entitlement to 40% of net revenue collected from the state.
Under Articles 112C and 112D of the Federal Constitution:
This is not a policy matter
This is not discretionary
This is a binding constitutional obligation
Yet:
payments are delayed
obligations are disputed
court processes are used to postpone compliance
Why announce RM12 billion — when Sabah’s rightful revenue is still withheld?
3. POLICY RHETORIC CONTINUES — THE “MODERN RAIL” EXAMPLE
The recent statement on a proposed modern rail study linking Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) to Sepanggar Port is yet another example of policy rhetoric disconnected from Sabah’s pressing realities.
This project remains:
a concept
without funding
without timeline
without commitment
At best, this is “siok sendiri” — rhetoric designed to sound impressive, but empty in substance.
Sabahans are not asking for conceptual megaprojects.
Sabahans are asking for projects that actually happen.
4. HEADLINE BILLIONS VS SYSTEMIC NEGLECT
If RM12 billion is real, Sabahans should already see transformation.
Instead, Sabah continues to face:
Healthcare Collapse
Critical shortage of doctors
Overcrowded hospitals
Weak rural healthcare systems
Education Failure
Dilapidated schools
Unsafe learning environments
Infrastructure Breakdown
Water shortages
Electricity instability
Poor road connectivity
5. ECONOMIC FAILURE — SABAHANS FORCED TO LEAVE
The most painful reality is this:
Sabah cannot even retain its own people.
Thousands of Sabahan youths are leaving the state because:
jobs are not available
industries are underdeveloped
economic opportunities are limited
What is the value of a RM12 billion plan — or a modern rail system — when Sabah’s greatest resource is forced to leave?
6. POVERTY REMAINS THE HIGHEST IN MALAYSIA
Beyond infrastructure and employment, Sabah continues to face a stark and undeniable reality:
Sabah records the highest poverty rate in Malaysia.
This is not a new problem.
This is a persistent structural failure despite decades of development promises.
How can billions be announced — when poverty remains unresolved at the highest level in the nation?
7. UNRESOLVED IMMIGRATION CRISIS — A CONTINUING GOVERNANCE FAILURE
Sabah’s long-standing immigration and documentation issues remain unresolved despite the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on Illegal Immigrants in Sabah (RCI).
More than a decade later:
key recommendations remain unimplemented
concerns over documentation integrity persist
demographic and socio-economic pressures continue
This is not a new issue.
It is a continuing administrative failure.
Its impact is far-reaching:
strain on healthcare and education systems
distortion of labour markets
pressure on public resources
erosion of public confidence in institutions
For many Sabahans, this remains:
The “mother of all governance failures” — not as rhetoric, but as a reality of decades of non-implementation.
Without resolving this structural issue, no development plan — no matter how large — will succeed.
8. PUTRAJAYA CANNOT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS
The Federal Government cannot:
deny Sabah its constitutional revenue
delay court-mandated obligations
centralise fiscal control
…and at the same time:
announce billions
promote conceptual megaprojects
This is not development. This is control — disguised as progress.
9. SABAH DEMANDS ACCOUNTABILITY — NOT POLITICAL THEATRE
BoPiMaFo demands:
1. Full disclosure of the RM12 billion:
yearly breakdown
actual approved funding
project status
2. Immediate action on Sabah’s 40% revenue entitlement
3. Implementation of the RCI recommendations in a transparent and accountable manner
4. Prioritisation of:
healthcare
education
poverty reduction
basic infrastructure
real economic development
Sabah does not need inflated numbers.
Sabah does not need recycled promises.
Sabah demands:
Respect for the Constitution.
Return of its rightful revenue.
Real action to reduce poverty.
Implementation of long-overdue reforms.
And development that is real — not rhetorical.
Until then:
RM12 billion remains a headline illusion
modern rail remains a conceptual distraction
And Sabah remains underserved.
“You cannot deny Sabah its rights — and expect gratitude for promises.”
