Najib calls for more cash aid for Sabah Government

PETALING JAYA: Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (pic) called for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration and Petronas to provide further cash aid to help the Sabah Government deal with the Covid-19 crisis.

In a Facebook post, Najib pointed out that Petronas had enough funds to pay RM34 billion to the Federal Government and RM2.9 billion to the Sarawak Government for petroleum tax.

“But why can’t Petronas or the Federal Government pay at least RM1 billion to the Sabah Government for immediate assistance, including an additional RM1,000 in the form of Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) aid, especially for Sabahans?” he asked.

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Sabah has been recording the highest number of daily infections in the country since the third wave of the pandemic started in September.

Najib said Sabah also had the highest poverty rate in the country and that it had worsened due to the weaker economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

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He stressed that the State needed help immediately, to prevent the income and development gap between Sabah and other states from widening further.

Out of the 1,054 Covid-19 cases recorded on Tuesday, 678 or 64.3pc of them were in Sabah.

The State also reported 12 deaths, a record high for a single day since the pandemic first hit Malaysia.