BN, PH, what’s the difference, says Sabah opposition leader

(FMT) – A Sabah opposition leader has accused the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government of breaching the constitution by continuing to treat Sabah the same way the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) administration did.

Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku president Jeffrey Kitingan told FMT he found it ironic that Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had, on one hand, said there was no Malaysia without Sabah and Sarawak, but on the other hand “refused” to give the states their dues in Budget 2019.

“Why do you continue to keep and misappropriate and unlawfully use Sabah’s 40% of the net revenue derived by the federal government from Sabah? Malaya and Malaysians in Malaya have been enjoying this 40% that belongs to Sabahans since 1974, at the expense of Sabahans.

“We are not asking you to blindly give money to Sabah but to spend your 60% and return 40% of what is collected from Sabah. Don’t spend what is not yours. It’s daylight robbery of Sabahans,” he said.

Jeffrey said the federal government should also revisit claims by Sabah Chief Minister Shafie Apdal and International Trade and Industry Minister Darell Leiking that it owed the state RM1 trillion in arrears because of the unpaid 40%.

The Keningau MP said while he understood the prime minister’s statement that the manifesto was not a Bible, the federal government should realise how far behind Sabah and Sarawak were compared with the peninsula.

The pledge to return to Sabah and Sarawak 50% of the net revenue collected in both states had been one of the most important promises PH used in its election campaign, he said, adding that it should be kept.

He said failure to do so would only prove that there was no difference between the way PH was treating Sabah and Sarawak, and how BN had “viciously exploited” the states’ resources for the benefit of Malaya, treating them “as if they were colonies”.

“This is proven by the mere RM5 billion Sabah stands to get from the total RM54.7 billion federal development expenditure – only 9.16%. Sarawak is getting less at 7.95%. Meanwhile, Malaya, which is far more developed than Sabah and Sarawak, is getting 82.89%.

“With such a huge gap in funds, how do we expect Sabah and Sarawak to catch up in terms of development and be on par with Malaya?

“If the government is sincere about developing Sabah and Sarawak, we should get at least 40% for Sabah, 40% for Sarawak and 20% for Malaya. Even if all 100% is given to Sabah and Sarawak, we would still take decades to reach the current development level of Malaya.”

He said the question on the minds of Sabahans, and possibly Sarawakians as well, was whether the current federal government was sincere about developing Sabah and Sarawak to bring them on par with Malaya.

If nothing was done to address the problems, he added, Sabahans and Sarawakians would continue to feel marginalised.

“Already, the movement to bring Sabah and Sarawak out of Malaysia is getting stronger, and their voices will become louder as time goes by. This is a fact, and the federal government cannot afford to turn a blind eye to this anymore.”