Sabah attorney-general Brenndon Keith Soh explained that after eight official requests to the federal government to provide crucial financial data for the calculation of net revenue went unanswered, efforts were made to calculate it based on limited data available.

He said the matter was raised during the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) technical committee meeting on May 28 and, subsequently, the committee was informed by the federal finance ministry that negotiations would be held in June this year.

“Given the time and data constraints, the state committee worked tirelessly and diligently to prepare an updated official claim in anticipation of the negotiations to be held.

“That (proposed) claim was sent to the federal finance ministry on June 18 and a letter on July 11. To date, there has not been a response in writing,” he said in a statement.

However, Soh said the federal finance ministry had, on July 16, confirmed in Parliament that Putrajaya is committed to discuss a new special grant rate for Sabah.

“We, therefore, remain prepared, ready and able to commence further negotiations of the special grant due,” he said.

Yesterday, Upko president Ewon Benedick pressed the Sabah government for answers over apparent delays in submitting its proposal for its claim to 40% of the state tax revenues.

Ewon said Sarawak submitted its proposal in February, and Upko had also submitted its proposal to the chief minister in January. “Why couldn’t the state government do the same?” he asked.

He had hoped the state government would submit its proposal in February so that it could be discussed at the technical committee meeting in May. However, during the meeting, he was told the state would only submit its proposal in June.

The Borneo Post previously reported that Ewon’s remarks were in response to comments that he was keeping quiet on the delay.

Ewon, who is part of the technical committee, claimed that the proposal was supposed to have been discussed on May 28, but it had to be delayed because the state government’s proposal was not ready.

He said the proposal was finally submitted one month before the July 18 deadline, months after other stakeholders had submitted their proposals.