Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah government received RM600 million from the Federal Government's RM1.5 billion interim Special Grant on June 12 and has requested that the remaining RM900 million be disbursed within this year.
Sabah Assistant Finance Minister II Datuk Mohd Ishak Ayub
(pic) said the RM1.5 billion payment was only an interim settlement and should not be construed as agreement on the final amount the state is constitutionally entitled to receive.
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He said Sabah accepted the interim payment without prejudice to its constitutional rights under Articles 112C and 112D of the Federal Constitution.
“In this matter, the Sabah Government remained firm that the 40 per cent formula as provided under the Federal Constitution must be fully implemented,” he said.
He said this in reply to an oral question from Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau (UPKO-Tamparuli), which was answered together with questions from Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Warisan-Senallang) and Alias Sani (Warisan-Sekong) on the Special Grant payment and Sabah's 40 per cent revenue entitlement.
Mohd Ishak said a series of correspondence between the Federal Government and the Sabah government dated June 9, 19 and 26 followed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's announcement of the increased interim payment during the Kaamatan Festival celebration on May 30.
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In a separate oral question session, Sabah Assistant Minister of Women, Health and People's Wellbeing Datuk Rina Jainal said the state government would maintain welfare assistance at between RM200 and RM350.
She said any increase in the state's welfare allocation would depend on Sabah's current financial position.
“For federal welfare assistance, any increase in the assistance rate is based on the federal budget announced by the Prime Minister during the Budget presentation in Parliament,” she said.
Replying to an oral question from Grace Lee Li Mei (Appointed Assembly Member), Rina said eligibility for welfare assistance had also been expanded based on the current Poverty Line Income, with the household income ceiling increased from RM1,198 in 2025 to RM1,236 this year.
