Speaking after opening the Menara Kastam here today, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said, currently, the federal government is working hard to save the country from going bankrupt.
“We hope the people will understand that we are facing a challenging fiscal situation at the moment because of the various scandals we inherited from the previous government, including the 1MDB scandal.
“Because of these scandals, we have lost the ability to do what we want to do and what we ought to do. 1MDB caused Malaysia to lose RM50 billion. Just imagine what we can do with the money. All this money, Jho Low has taken,” he said, referring to fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho.
Even today, Lim said, it was revealed that the previous administration had tampered with the audit report on 1MDB – an act which he described as diabolical.
Hence, he urged the people of Sabah to give the federal government a chance to improve the financial situation before fulfilling the pledge made in Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto.
Even though the special grant is Sabah’s constitutional right, Lim said, the people should also understand that if the federal government suffers financial troubles, all the other states including Sabah would also be affected.
“Do not think that if the parents go bankrupt, the children will not be affected. Besides, under Budget 2019, we have shown respect towards Sabah by giving an additional allocation of RM1 billion compared to the previous government.
“In the last budget, Sabah received only RM4.13 billion but next year the state will get RM5 billion, a 10% increment. This showed the new government respects Sabah and we want to ensure Sabahans are given more attention,” he said.
The money, he said is given specifically for Sabah and not shared with other states which showed the federal government’s appreciation towards Sabah and its people.
Furthermore, he said the allocation for the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) to ensure security in Sabah’s east coast had also been increased from a little over RM70 million in 2018 to almost RM100 million in next year’s budget.
He said this showed that Sabahans were right in changing their government from BN to Warisan and Pakatan Harapan.
“We are talking about the future, on whether we will fulfil the obligation to give back 40% of the net revenue the federal government derived from Sabah. I can only say it depends on our financial capability,” he added.