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Monday, October 20, 2014

GST Borneo adds insult to injury

It is insulting that Putrajaya will not return the 40 per cent new revenue collected from Sabah and Sarawak.
sabah_sarawak_gstKENINGAU: Bingkor Assemblyman Jeffrey Kitingan has taken the position that if Putrajaya goes ahead with GST, as affirmed in the budget speech last week, it will be tantamount to adding insult to injury to the people of Sabah and Sarawak.
The injury, points out Jeffrey, was in not returning 40 per cent of the revenues collected by the Federal Government in the two Borneo nations to the Sabah and Sarawak Governments.
The 40 per cent proviso, argues Jeffrey, is provided for under various constitutional documents and the Federal Constitution.
These include Point 11 of the 20 Points, and Item 2(1) of the 10th Schedule of the Federal Constitution.
“It is also clearly spelt out in Article 95B(3) of the Federal Constitution that sales tax, which includes the GST, is deemed to be a matter under the State List under the 9th Schedule and not under the Federal List,” fumes Jeffrey who is also Star Sabah Chief.
“It seems that by introducing GST in Borneo as well, come April Fool’s Day next year, Putrajaya is not only abolishing the sales tax collected by the Sabah and Sarawak Governments but will not return 40 per cent of the new revenue collected to the Borneo nations.”
Therein, lies adding insult to the injury done to the people of Sabah and Sarawak, explained Jeffrey.
“It seems that the Prime Minister cum Finance Minister, Najib Abdul Razak, and the Federal Government has no respect for the Federal Constitution and the laws of Malaysia. They do not care for the welfare and well-being of the people of Sabah and Sarawak.”
He urged the Sabah and Sarawak Governments to stand together and press the Federal Government to exempt the two Borneo nations from GST since the sales tax is already being collected by them and retained. They must not allow GST to abolish the sales tax, he added.
Further, he reminded them that it was high time that the two Borneo governments secured the return of the 40 per cent of all revenues collected in Sabah and Sarawak by the Federal Government.
Putrajaya, stressed Jeffrey, cannot use the excuse that it’s more than making up on the matter when disbursing Federal allocations to Sabah and Sarawak and claim that besides that Petronas will consider including the two nations in its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) budget.
“Federal allocations are a separate matter from the 40 per cent, sales tax, GST and oil royalty,” said Jeffrey. “The Federal Constitution and the laws must be upheld, honoured and respected.”
“We are not impressed by Petronas’ pledges on CSR. We are more concerned about revising the present measly 5 per cent oil royalty to a respectable 20 per cent.”
On an additional note, Jeffrey called on Putrajaya not to disburse federal allocations directly in Sabah and Sarawak by duplicating the mechanisms of the respective governments. Instead, he said that Federal allocations must be channeled to the people through the Sabah and Sarawak Governments.

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