PETALING JAYA: Upko president Ewon Benedick has pressed the Sabah government for answers over apparent delays in submitting its proposal for its claim to 40% of state tax revenues.
“Sarawak submitted its proposal in February, while Upko had also submitted its proposal to the chief minister in January. Why couldn’t the state government do the same?
"I was hoping it would submit its proposal in February, so that we can discuss it in the technical committee meeting in May, but during the meeting, Jeffrey had said that the state will only submit its proposal in June," Ewon said in Kota Kinabalu today, referring to deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan.
"Why did they only submit on June 18? I cannot explain on their behalf. He (Jeffrey) said there is no progress … the progress must start from the state government. This is a government-to-government matter."
The Borneo Post reported that Ewon’s remarks were in response to comments that he was keeping quiet on the delay.
Ewon, who is part of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) technical committee, said the proposal was supposed to have been discussed on May 28, but it had to be delayed because the Sabah government’s proposal was not ready.
He said the proposal was finally submitted one month before the July 18 deadline, months after other stakeholders had submitted their proposals.
