Kota Kinabalu: The Madani Government has resolved 12 of the 16 matters fully settled under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), accounting for 75 per cent of the total resolved since 2016, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Mustapha Sakmud said.
He said all 12 matters had been resolved within the four years of the current administration, compared with four matters resolved under previous administrations, based on official monitoring records of the MA63 Implementation Action Council (MTPMA63).
“Criticism must be based on facts, not on malicious assumptions that imply a complete lack of effort or progress in the implementation of MA63,” he said in a statement posted on his official Facebook page, Thursday.
Mustapha said of the 29 matters monitored by the MTPMA63 as of October 2024, 16 had been fully resolved, three had been addressed on an interim or partial basis, while the remaining 10 were still under negotiation.
Among the key achievements were the devolution of regulatory authority over electricity supply to Sabah, the appointment of permanent representatives from Sabah and Sarawak to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), the handover of Bintulu Port to Sarawak and the acquisition of MASWings, which has since been rebranded as AirBorneo.
On Sabah’s claim to 40 per cent of its net revenue under Articles 112C and 112D of the Federal Constitution, Mustapha said technical negotiations between the Federal and Sabah governments were ongoing to finalise the implementation mechanism, calculation formula and payment timeline.
He said the discussions involved the Secretary-General of the Treasury, the Sabah State Secretary, the Sabah Finance Minister and technical teams from both governments to ensure that any agreement reached could be implemented in an orderly and sustainable manner.
To strengthen Sabah’s financial capacity while the negotiations continue, he said the Federal Government had increased the State’s interim special grant from RM125.6 million in 2022 to RM1.5 billion this year.
“The special grant is channelled directly into the State Government’s coffers for the benefit of the people. It must be clearly understood that this is Sabah’s financial entitlement, not a political handout from any party,” he said.
Mustapha said the RM1.5 billion interim grant, which had also been announced for 2027, was the highest annual amount ever allocated to Sabah, demonstrating that efforts to fulfil the State’s constitutional entitlements were continuing.
He added that the Federal Government’s financial commitment to Sabah had increased by 43.8 per cent, or RM5.7 billion, from RM13 billion in actual expenditure in 2022 to RM18.7 billion allocated under Budget 2027.
For Sarawak, total Federal expenditure and allocations had risen by 58.8 per cent, or RM6 billion, from RM10.2 billion in 2022 to RM16.2 billion under Budget 2027, he said.
Mustapha said Sabah’s interim special grant had increased progressively from RM26.7 million in 2021 to RM125.6 million in 2022, RM300 million in 2023, RM306 million in 2024, RM600 million in 2025 and RM1.5 billion in 2026.
He stressed that the increased allocations must translate into tangible improvements on the ground, particularly in addressing persistent problems involving roads, water and electricity supply, as well as delays in infrastructure projects, including the Pan Borneo Highway.
MA63, he said, should not be used as political ammunition to accuse the Government of failure, adding that the progress recorded reflected Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s commitment to safeguarding the rights of the people of Sabah and Sarawak.
