KOTA KINABALU: Talks on Sabah’s claim to 40% of federal revenue derived from the state started earlier this week, with caretaker Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor confident that negotiations could be finalised within three months.
According to him, discussions on the issue have begun at the senior official level, which was led by the state secretary representing the Sabah government, and the Treasury secretary-general representing the Federal Government.
Hajiji also said technical discussions between the state and federal officials aim to determine the most suitable mechanism to implement the 40% revenue entitlement.
“Discussions at Menara Kinabalu touch on mechanisms and methods of paying the 40% claims to Sabah.
“The state secretary informed me that the meeting is ongoing and the negotiations have begun.
“We have 90 days as given by the courts, and after technical negotiations conclude, the decision will be brought to the state and federal governments,” said Hajiji in a statement yesterday.
He said specific proposals on the negotiations cannot be disclosed as the discussions were still technical in nature.
“They may need to discuss several times to reach an agreement. So let’s wait for a full report from the negotiating committee,” he added.
He also said he personally asked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim not to appeal the High Court’s ruling on the 40% revenue for Sabah issue.
“God-willing, they decided against the appeal. The Attorney General’s Chambers only appealed certain wordings in the judgment that it felt was unfair to the previous Federal Government,” he said.
