KOTA KINABALU: Discussing Sabah’s entitlement at the negotiation table is better than politicising it, said Housing, Local Government and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.
The Federal Government, he said, was bound to fulfil its obligations to Sabah as enshrined under the Malaysia Agreement.
Putrajaya, he said, would likely however make known its financial allocation to Sabah during discussions on the state’s 40% entitlement of revenue collected by the federal authorities from the state.
“I am sure that the Federal Government will reveal all its expenses for Sabah. Some are known and some not, some are direct and some indirect,” he said after his Hari Raya open house in Tuaran here yesterday.
Abdul Rahman also congratulated Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman for being instrumental in bringing up the matter to the attention of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who had agreed to the setting up of a special committee on the matter.
Anifah, who led a group of five, including Sabah STAR chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, to meet Najib last week in Putrajaya, had said that the Prime Minister was receptive about its constitutional entitlement.
He said he expected the special committee to be formed soon after Hari Raya. The committee, he said, would comprise experts in the Constitution and the historical background to Sabah becoming part of Malaysia in 1963.
It would also study Sabah’s rights to higher oil royalty as well as a return of 40% of the nett revenue obtained from the state.
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