Benedick to present Sabah 40% revenue payment framework next year

KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Ewon Benedick will submit a proposed framework to the Federal and Sabah governments for the payment mechanism of the 40% tax revenue owed by Putrajaya to the state next year.

The president of Upko, a Pakatan Harapan component, said the proposed framework will take into account technical issues related to the availability of data related to the collection of federal revenue in Sabah since 1974.

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He added that the framework will also offer a more practical step forward to realise the payment.

As a member of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Implementation Action Council (MTPMA63) and the MTPMA63 technical committee, he said he took the initiative to hold a roundtable with Sabah leaders with expertise in their respective fields to discuss the framework.

“I will propose this framework… to the government through discussions with the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister II and Sabah Chief Minister before the MTPMA63 and its technical committee meetings early next year,” he said after chairing the roundtable meeting here on Tuesday (Dec 19).

As such, Benedick, who is also Entrepreneurship Development and Cooperatives Minister, suggested a pre-council discussion involving members of the meetings so they could all be on the same page.

“In essence, we want any special payment to Sabah to be based on the 40% formula as enshrined in Article 112C of the Federal Constitution,” he said.

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He said the proposed framework needs to be presented and discussed between the Federal and state governments in line with the government’s decision to fix a period of one year from July this year to finalise the payment mechanism.

Also present at Tuesday’s meeting were former chief minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, Sabah’s representative on the Inland Revenue Board Datuk Petrus Gimbad, and former Sabah Law Society president Datuk Roger Chin.

Sabah think-tank Institute of Development Studies chief executive officer Prof Datuk Dr Ramzah Dambul and former Sabah deputy chief minister Datuk Seri Wilfred Bumburing also took part in the discussion.

In September, 12 Sabah Pakatan Harapan representatives, including Benedick, withdrew their suit against the Federal Government for the return of the 40% federal revenue derived from the state.

They said this decision was made due to the positive progress pertaining to the claims under the MA63, and the assurance given by the Federal Government that their claims would be addressed, among other reasons.