PUTRAJAYA, Nov 14 — Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali today said the federal and Sabah governments will hold their first official-level meeting on Monday to begin negotiations on the state’s 40 per cent revenue entitlement, following a recent High Court ruling.
He said the Cabinet had decided that discussions must begin “as soon as possible” at the official level, especially after Caretaker Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor stressed the need to expedite the process.
“The Cabinet has mandated that the process be chaired by Treasury Secretary-General Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican while the Sabah government will be represented by State Secretary Datuk Seri Safar Untong.
“The first official-level meeting will be held next Monday,” he told reporters at the communications ministry’s weekly press conference here today.
Armizan, who is also Sabah’s representative on the Technical Committee of the MA63 Implementation Action Council — replacing Datuk Ewon Benedick — said this reflects the government’s serious commitment to implementing the High Court decision and fulfilling its responsibilities on the matter.
He said that during a special Cabinet meeting, ministers were briefed by the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) on the Kota Kinabalu High Court decision concerning Sabah’s constitutional right to 40 per cent of federal revenues derived from the state.
“In that meeting, in line with the AGC’s advice, the federal government decided not to file an appeal against the court’s decision on the 40 per cent right, which forms the basis for determining the amount or rate of Sabah’s special grant under Article 112C(1A) of the Federal Constitution,” he said.
Armizan described this as an unprecedented development under any previous federal administration.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told the Dewan Rakyat that there is no appeal against Sabah’s 40 per cent special grant.
The appeal, he said, relates only to what the government considers errors in the judgment’s reasoning, not its main decision.
