By Daniel John Jambun
KOTA KINABALU: Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo) takes note of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement during the State-level Kaamatan Festival that Sabah’s interim special grant will be increased from RM600 million to RM1.5 billion.
We welcome the increase.
However, Sabahans must not lose sight of the real issue.
The issue has never been how much Putrajaya is willing to give.
The issue is how much Sabah is constitutionally entitled to receive.
For decades, Sabahans have been encouraged to celebrate allocations, grants, assistance packages and political announcements.
But constitutional rights are not gifts.
Constitutional rights are obligations.
1. RM1.5 BILLION DOES NOT ANSWER THE MAIN QUESTION
The Prime Minister himself acknowledged that the RM1.5 billion payment is an interim arrangement pending the final implementation of Sabah’s 40 per cent revenue entitlement under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution.
That means the constitutional issue remains unresolved.
The fundamental questions remain unanswered:
• What is the actual value of Sabah’s 40 per cent entitlement?
• How much net federal revenue is collected annually from Sabah?
• What formula is being used to calculate Sabah’s entitlement?
• Is RM1.5 billion equal to the constitutional amount?
• Or is Sabah actually entitled to a significantly larger sum?
Until these questions are answered publicly, no Sabahan can objectively determine whether RM1.5 billion represents full compliance, partial compliance or another temporary political arrangement.
2. RIGHTS ARE NOT CHARITY
Some political leaders are portraying this announcement as though Sabah has received a generous gift from the Federal Government.
That narrative is fundamentally wrong.
The 40 per cent entitlement is not a donation.
It is not development assistance.
It is not political generosity.
It is not an election gift.
It is a constitutional right arising from the Federal Constitution and the special safeguards negotiated during the formation of Malaysia.
Sabah is not asking for charity.
Sabah is asking for compliance.
3. IF NEGOTIATIONS ARE WORKING, WHERE IS THE FINAL ANSWER?
Certain political leaders have argued that the increase to RM1.5 billion proves that the negotiation approach adopted by the Sabah Government is working.
BoPiMaFo respectfully asks a simple question:
If negotiations are working, where is the final figure?
After years of discussions, meetings, committees and negotiations, Sabahans still do not know:
• the actual amount owed;
• the official calculation methodology;
• the federal revenue figures used;
• and the status of implementation.
Success is not measured by announcements.
Success is measured by results.
Until the final entitlement is determined and disclosed, claims of success remain political assertions rather than verifiable facts.
4. THE RM1.5 BILLION ANNOUNCEMENT RAISES ANOTHER IMPORTANT QUESTION
The increase from RM125.6 million in 2022 to RM1.5 billion in 2026 raises an unavoidable question.
If Sabah can receive RM1.5 billion today, was Sabah being severely underpaid previously?
If earlier amounts were inadequate, Sabahans deserve to know:
• how those figures were determined;
• who accepted them;
• whether Sabah lost billions through decades of underpayment;
• and whether arrears remain outstanding.
These questions cannot simply be ignored.
5. WHAT ABOUT THE MISSING DECADES?
The debate is not only about payments moving forward.
The larger issue concerns decades of constitutional entitlement that Sabahans believe were never properly reviewed or implemented.
The obvious question remains:
If Sabah was underpaid for decades, what happens to the arrears?
Will they be calculated?
Will they be disclosed?
Will they be paid?
The people of Sabah deserve clear answers.
6. TRANSPARENCY IS NOW THE TRUE TEST
BoPiMaFo fully agrees with calls for transparency.
Transparency requires the publication of:
• the net federal revenue collected from Sabah;
• the methodology used to calculate the 40 per cent entitlement;
• the basis upon which RM1.5 billion was determined;
• the implementation framework;
• and the status of any historical arrears.
If all parties are confident that Sabah is receiving what it is constitutionally entitled to receive, then there should be no fear in publishing the figures.
7. KAAMATAN SHOULD BE A TIME FOR TRUTH
Kaamatan is a celebration of gratitude, resilience, heritage and identity.
It should also be a time for honesty.
Sabahans are mature enough to distinguish between political announcements and constitutional obligations.
The real question is not:
“How much did Putrajaya give Sabah?”
The real question is:
“How much belongs to Sabah under the Constitution?”
Those are not the same thing.
CONCLUSION
BoPiMaFo welcomes the increase to RM1.5 billion and acknowledges that it represents a significant improvement over previous interim payments.
However, Sabahans must not allow constitutional rights to be reduced to political gratitude.
The Federal Government deserves recognition for increasing the interim payment.
But recognition cannot replace transparency.
And transparency cannot replace constitutional compliance.
RM1.5 billion may be progress.
But Sabahans are still waiting for the truth.
