MA63: Formula for 40% revenue grant to be finalised by July 2024, says Ewon

KOTA KINABALU: A formula for the 40% special revenue grant for Sabah is expected to be finalised by July next year, says Datuk Ewon Benedick.

The Upko president who was part of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Technical Committee Implementation Council that handles this matter, said this agreement was made during their ongoing meetings and discussions this year.

“The Federal Government has agreed to finalise the implementation of the 40% federal revenue allocation formula by July next year and this is made possible through the MA63 technical committee implementation council,” he said at the Upko National Convention, here, Saturday (Sept 9).

This council was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister II Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

Ewon said as part of the decision makers in this council, and a member of the Cabinet, he had a duty to push and make sure that the timeline was fulfilled.

He said a working committee had been formed and chaired by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Armizan Ali to formulate the mechanism before it was brought up to the council.

“The special grants for Sabah under Article 112D have also been improved, and new notices will be issued by the Federal Government, thereby revoking the previous notices that were challenged in court,” said the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives minister.

In June last year, a group of Sabah Pakatan Harapan leaders filed a claim in the High Court to seek Sabah rights to its entitlement for the return of 40% federal revenue from the state.

Among others, they were seeking a declaration that Sabah is entitled to the 40% revenue derived by the Federal Government from the state annually to be “respected and delivered” as stated in the Constitution.

Their lawyer Datuk Nelson Angang had said they were seeking a declaration under Article 112C and Section 2(1) of Part IV of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.

In the originating summons filed against the government of Malaysia and government of Sabah, they also sought for the Federal Government to disclose the amount of net revenue it derived from Sabah annually.

Angang said they were also seeking a declaration that any review under Article 112D of the Constitution must be based on an amount that reflects and equals the value of the amount due to the state.

Ewon had given assurance that Sabah Pakatan would not withdraw the lawsuit even if the coalition succeeded in forming a government with other political parties after GE15.

The High Court of Sabah and Sarawak had initially fixed July 31 for the preliminary hearing of the lawsuit but the case was adjourned to September 20 for the parties to update the court on whether the plaintiffs still wanted to pursue the suit.