Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s 40 per cent share of Federal net revenue must be honoured in full and without further delay, said Sebatik Assemblyman (Warisan) Manahing Tinggilani.
“The Federal Government must fulfil the entitlement under Articles 112C and 112D which is non-negotiable as it is a legal right belonging to the people of Sabah,” he said, noting the matter is not a subject of political bargaining or need further discussion.
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“The formula, the mechanism and the legal basis are already clearly stated in law,” he told the House.
“What remains is implementation. This 40 per cent is the right of the people of Sabah as a whole.”
He welcomed recent efforts by the Sabah Government to reassert the state’s claim, describing the move as a necessary step towards restoring fiscal justice in line with the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963. Full implementation, he said, would give Sabah greater capacity to close long-standing development gaps and improve public services across the state.
Moving forward, the assemblyman pointed to Pulau Sebatik as a stark example of how prolonged underfunding has affected border communities.
He said Sebatik Malaysia, once more developed than its Indonesian counterpart, has now fallen far behind.
“The contrast today is like night and day,” he said, adding that the situation should concern the nation as a whole.
He said the consequences are evident in persistent infrastructure failures, including badly damaged roads, unstable electricity supply, recurring shortages of clean water during dry seasons and unsafe jetties that remain the primary mode of transport for many residents.
He said these were not isolated problems but symptoms of deeper structural issues linked to limited fiscal capacity.
He urged the Federal Government to translate commitments into action, warning that continued delays would only deepen public frustration.
“This is not about politics,” he said.
“It is about constitutional responsibility and the future of Sabah.”
While acknowledging the RM6.42 billion allocation under the Sabah Budget 2026 as substantial, he stressed that the true measure of success would be whether the funds deliver real improvements on the ground.
He said allocations must be distributed fairly, without political discrimination, and prioritised towards communities that have endured decades of neglect.
Observers note that the renewed emphasis on the 40 per cent entitlement reflects growing sentiment within Sabah that federal-state financial relations must be recalibrated to reflect constitutional guarantees.
As the assemblyman concluded, honouring the 40 per cent share is “not a concession from the Federal Government, but an obligation that is long overdue.”
