PETALING JAYA: Sabah finance minister Masidi Manjun insisted that the state has submitted a letter of claim for 40% of its net revenue to the federal government, disputing a claim by entrepreneur development and cooperatives minister Ewon Benedick who alleged that no letter had been received.
“We did it when I was second minister of finance. If I am not mistaken, (it was) June 10, 2022, and it has been acknowledged (by the federal government).
“If not, the federal government would not have granted the interim payment (to the state) while waiting for the final settlement,” he told the Borneo Post in Kota Kinabalu.
On Monday, Ewon said to his knowledge, the state government had yet to submit an official request to Putrajaya.
“Sabah has been playing a waiting game all this while,” Ewon said.
He said Sabah’s demands had only been made in the media through speeches in Parliament or the state assembly, adding that the state government should submit an official demand.
The Kadamaian assemblyman also said the Sabah government did not file any official request from 2018 to 2020, when he was a minister in the state administration.
“It therefore goes back to the state government to register its claim and send a letter of demand to the federal government for the payment.
“The chief minister and state Cabinet must discuss and file this demand, which is the missing link to the issue,” he said.
