Md Tahir (second from left), Kamarudin (third from right) and other members of the group.
KOTA KINABALU (Dec 13): Sabah’s leaders must present a united front in the issue of getting the federal government to pay the 40 per cent revenue derived from the state’s revenue all this while.
According to a group of former Sabah Foundation personnel, leaders in Sabah must put aside their political differences and unite to demand that what is enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) is fulfilled.
“The 40 per cent revenue is Sabah’s money, it does not belong to the federal government or is derived from other states. This is enshrined in the Constitution and the federal government must respect that,” they said.
Spokesperson for the group of seven former People Development Catalyst of Sabah Foundation, Md Haris Md Tahir said Sabah’s leaders must be united and have a collective decision on the matter.
Speaking to The Borneo Post recently, Md Haris and his fellow activists called all the state’s elected representatives, Members of Parliament, nominated state assemblymen and senators to sit down and discuss the matter with the aim of coming up with a resolution to the issue.
“With the collective decision, they can seek an audience with the federal government to present the resolution and demand for the issue to be resolved once and for all,” he stressed.
Md Tahir also claimed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim gave his assurance the MA63 issue would be resolved in one month, adding, “but it has been months and we have yet to see the 40 per cent revenue returned to Sabah.”
“Sabah has been waiting for more than 60 years for this. Sabah needs money for development and basic infrastructure for the people such as schools, hospitals and to address the water and electricity supply issue, ” he stressed.
The group’s advisor, Kamarudin Salindre, pointed out that the RM300 million interim payment was not enough for the development of the state.
“During Parti Warisan Sabah’s term as government, I remember the then state Education and Innovation Minister saying in a State Assembly sitting that more than 1,000 schools are in dire need of repair, renovation and to be rebuilt.
“For this, we need RM3 billion to RM4 billion to repair, renovate and rebuild our schools, so how is the RM300 million be enough, ” he asked.
The group was also in agreement that Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (Sabah STAR) president Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffrey Kitingan should be the person in charge of getting all the state’s leaders together to discuss the issue.
“During Parti Bersatu Sabah time, Dr Jeffrey was the most vocal about demanding for Sabah’s rights to be fulfilled. Now there are ‘copy paste?leaders who have taken up the issue and are attempting to win the fight.
“Dr Jeffrey is the right person to lead the charge in the demand for the 40 per cent revenue to be repaid to Sabah as he has been championing the issue all this while,” Md Tahir added.
