This is being pursued through the joint consultative committee meeting under the Special Council on MA63.

Deputy minister in the premier’s department (law, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and federal-state relations) Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali said the state government had requested for this joint consultative committee meeting to be held in the near future.

She said the formula for reviewing the special grants and other related matters could be discussed and agreed upon at this meeting.

Replying to Yap Yau Sin (GPS-Kota Sentosa) during the question-and-answer session, Sharifah Hasidah said the negotiation was to ensure that special grants to Sarawak can be distributed fairly and equitably.

She said the state government had submitted a formula for reviewing the special grants.

“The premier (Abang Johari Openg), who is also the Sarawak finance and new economy minister, has emphasised that the special grants ought to be based on a reasonable and pragmatic formula.

“We do not want the federal government to simply give out any figure, taking into account the financial position of the federal government, as stipulated under Article 112d of the Federal Constitution.”

She said that under Article 112d(6) of the Federal Constitution, if the federal and state governments were unable to reach an agreement on any matter on the review, it should be referred to an independent assessor.

The assessor’s recommendations shall then be binding on the federal and state governments, she said.