In a special parliamentary statement today, Anwar described such claims as “misleading interpretations” of the Oct 17 court ruling on Sabah’s 40% revenue entitlement.
He told the Dewan Rakyat that the government’s commitment to Sabah’s development was reflected in the progress made under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), through the Technical Committee Meeting of the MA63 Implementation Action Council, chaired by deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof.
Anwar said that to date, 13 MA63 matters had been resolved, including the transfer of electricity regulatory powers and Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd to the state government, as well as the recognition of Sabah’s public works, drainage and irrigation, and water supply departments as “technical departments” under Treasury Order 182.
On the special grants given to Sabah under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution, Anwar said the government had doubled allocations in consecutive years, from RM125.6 million in 2022 to RM300 million in 2023, and again to RM600 million this year.
“The total payment of RM600 million was finalised on Sept 10 to the Sabah government,” Anwar said, adding that the rate remained interim as both governments were finalising a new formula for calculating future special grants.
Increased development funds for Sabah
Anwar said the federal government had also continued to raise development expenditure for Sabah, with RM14 billion channelled to the state for 2023 and 2024, up from the RM13 billion allocated in 2022.
He said allocations have since been increased to RM17 billion for this year and next year, far exceeding Sabah’s total annual revenue collection of about RM10 billion, which includes the 5% petroleum sales tax and other direct and indirect taxes.
“This means that the government has spent more than the total revenue gained in Sabah,’’ he added.
Anwar also cited major ongoing projects such as the Pan Borneo Sabah Phase 1B highway and the RM1 billion Sabah water project, scheduled for completion next year.
He added that Putrajaya’s support for the commercial cooperation agreement signed with Sabah in December 2021 has begun to yield results, with local oil and gas contractors securing RM2 billion worth of contracts as of 2024.
“These commitments will continue so that all of the federal government’s obligations to Sabah under the Federal Constitution can be fulfilled, as well as improving Sabah’s special grants in accordance with the service needs of the state government and the fiscal capacity of the federal government,” he said.