Government

In Sabah Electricity, Anwar reneges on MA63

And Hajiji Noor fails to defend Sabah’s rights

Source: Madius Tangau

It is shocking that the federal government has refused to give Sabah a RM866m electricity subsidy to prevent a statewide blackout next year. The money is needed to pay for rental of diesel generating sets and diesel fuel  to produce electricity while the Tenom-Pangi hydro plant is shut down for repairs. Even more shocking is that the Sabah government appealed to the federal treasury for the money. In this, both prime minister Anwar Ibrahim and chief minister Hajiji Noor have erred. Mr Hajiji should not have begged. He should have demanded for it as under the Malaysia Agreement of 1963, Putra Jaya has a constitutional duty to fund Sabah’s development which includes financing Sabah electrification. Mr Anwar has conveniently forgotten that his government owes Sabah hundreds of billions of ringgit in the 40 percent net revenue  it collected from the resource-rich north Borneo island state which Sabah is constitutionally entitled. And while Mr Anwar has reneged on the MA63 and held Sabah to ransom, Mr Hajiji has shown how subservient he is to the central government and that he can’t be relied on to defend Sabah’s rights.

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Government

Malaysia’s most feared taxman is Kota Kinabalu mayor

Sabin Samitah’s job may be hampered as state election looms

Kota Kinabalu mayor Sabin Samitah (left) with Luyang lawmaker Ginger Phoong Jin Zhe – Picture courtesy of The Borneo Post

Seven years ago, the name Sabin Samitah struck fear in Malaysia’s corporate world. As chief executive officer of the Inland Revenue Board, he slapped companies and businessmen with multi-million-ringgit income tax bills and penalties for under declaring income as soon as he assumed office in December 2016. Among those he cracked down were the companies of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed’s three sons, and property developer Lee Kim Yew, a close friend of Mahathir, who founded Country Heights Holdings Berhad. Then in October 2021, two months short of his five-year contract, he abruptly quit his job. In September that year he had slapped former prime minister Najib Razak with a RM1.7-billion tax bill which drew condemnations from Mr Najib who is serving a 12-year jail sentence for corruption and money laundering. The Ranau-born Mr Sabin, 63, has now become the seventh mayor of Kota Kinabalu. His appointment on new year’s day was understandably greeted with trepidation by those who know him. Yet he hasn’t said that he would go after ratepayers who owe the Dewan Bandaraya (city hall) about RM50m in council taxes. But he has set his sight on giving the state capital cleaner public toilets in three months.

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