THERE is no proof that Putrajaya has colonised Sabah and Sarawak, Maximus Ongkili said today.

“I hope Sabah and Sarawak lawmakers can be proactive and not be influenced by politics,” the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak) told Dewan Rakyat during the government’s winding-up session on the Supply Bill 2022 debate.

“Some said that Sabah and Sarawak are ruled by Putrajaya but such words are unhelpful,” said the Kota Marudu MP.

He said the MPs must be more careful with their words as they had been in the federal government too.

“Is there any proof that Putrajaya has colonised Sabah and Sarawak?” said the PBS president.

“We should be more careful and help the current government under the Keluarga Malaysia slogan. This is the time to make the country work instead of feed the fire that is burning,” said Maximus.

The minister was referring to several Sabah MPs such as Azis Jamman (Sepanggar-Warisan) and Jeffrey Kitingan (Keningau-PN) who warned Putrajaya that many Sabahans were unhappy with the way the federal government treated Sabah and Sarawak.

Among the issues the Borneo MPs raised was the unequal distribution of tax revenues by Putrajaya, their share of development funds and the lack of autonomy when allocated budgets.

Sabah Chief Minister 2 Bung Mokhtar (Kinabatangan-BN) had also questioned Putrajaya on channelling development funds directly to the state government after allocating them in the national budget.

In his speech, Azis said that although development funds were allocated for Sabah, most funds end up under-utilised.

“Take last year, for instance. Sabah was allocated RM216 million for electricity but only RM91 million was spent. On roads and bridges, only RM127 million out of the RM494 million allocation was used.

“For water, only RM6.7 million was spent despite an allocation of RM350 million,” said Azis.

Meanwhile, on the subject of revenue sharing with Sabah and Sarawak, Maximus said Sabah and Sarawak will be given RM26.7 million and RM16 million respectively in accordance with Article 112D of the constitution.

“This special payment is based on the amount that was set in 1969.

“Negotiations are being carried out with Putrajaya and the committee is chaired by the Finance Minister,” said Maximus. – November 15, 2021.