KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government needs to submit an official claim to the federal government regarding the allocation of 40 per cent of the federal revenue to Sabah.
United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation president Datuk Ewon Benedick said so far there has been no official demand or letter of demand (LOD) from the state government, apart from the those presented verbally and through media reports.
He said, the state government needs to submit an official claim to recover arrears, current and future payments in the 40 per cent requested from the federal government.
"Perhaps this demand has been mentioned in speeches and media reports, but has the Sabah government officially requested what we want to demand, namely arrears, current payments and future payments.
"Then the state government needs to register their demands like a LOD (letter of demand).
"The same needs to be done and the Chief Minister needs to discuss in the Cabinet to file the demands," he said at a press conference, here, yesterday.
He said the matter had been explained to the Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor when he led the Upko delegation at the meeting with the chairman of the Sabah People's Coalition which was held last week.
Ewon, who is also the Entrepreneurship and Cooperative Development Minister, said that although he was in the committee that discussed the issue of claims related to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), he could not represent the state government because he was in the Cabinet.
"My responsibility is to voice the matter, but I have no authority to represent the state government. I can only give my opinion based on my confidence, trust and understanding of the constitution.
"We hope that the Chief Minister and the state cabinet can discuss this matter, not just take quotes from speeches in Parliament or the media because that cannot be used as a basis to bring this to the federation," he said.
Meanwhile, the Penampang Member of Parliament said that Upko has also proposed several mechanisms for refunding 40 per cent of Sabah revenue to the state government to complement the formula set in the constitution.
He said, other parties should also submit their respective proposals regarding the determination of the payment mechanism which needs to be decided this July.
In July last year, the MA63 Technical Committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof decided that the settlement of the claim of 40 per cent of Sabah's net revenue or special grant is expected to be achieved within a year.
The issue of the 40 per cent claim that has lasted for almost 60 years refers to Sabah's claim to the return of the net revenue collected by the Federal Government in the state as enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
