Sunday 23 June 2013

TELL THE TRUTH OR BE INVESTIGATED







KOTA KINABALU:   “The Inland Revenue Board should be truthful about the tax revenues collected in Sabah rather than trying to cover up the truth just because Sabah is now claiming its constitutional share of this revenues” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief, in response to front-pages stories that only RM4 billion federal tax collection was targeted by the IRB from Sabah in 2013 and not RM40 billion as reported earlier.

The RM40 billion was initially announced by the IRB Sabah and they appear to be back-tracking as if to attempt a cover-up now that Sabah is entitled to two-fifths (40%) of the net revenue collected from Sabah.

The Sabah government must do more and investigate into the matter and not be side-tracked by accepting whatever is being pushed down all the time from Kuala Lumpur.  It is the duty and responsibility of the Sabah government, first and foremost, towards the State and the people of Sabah not the political masters from Malaya.

Just looking at several preliminary figures, there appears to be basis for an amount of more than RM4 billion.   Petronas takes RM17.88 billion from Sabah’s oil and gas.  

What about the major oil companies producing oil and gas from Sabah?   Sabah takes about RM1.1 billion in oil palm levies.  Sabah produces about 35% of Malaysia’s crude palm oil output and in 2012 Malaysia’s palm oil export earnings posted a value of RM71.3 billion with RM73 billion targeted for 2013. 

Government-linked Sime Darby Berhad has 54,278 hectares of plantations while Felda has some 306,000 acres in Sabah.  Many public listed plantation companies have most of their plantations in Sabah.  Even Yayasan Melaka and Yayasan Selangor have palm oil plantations in Sabah!

Whether it is RM4 billion or RM40 billion, Sabah is still entitled to its legitimate 40% share!  

Even assuming the lower figure, 40% of RM4 billion will increase Sabah’s budget by RM1.6 billion, a whopping 43% increase, and which will help the Sabah government and contribute to the well-being of Sabahans. 

The issue of linking this 40% entitlement with federal allocations is fully of idiocy and stupidity. Firstly, it shows that Sabah BN leaders do not prioritize Sabah but the federal/BN government, secondly, that they are not acting in the best interests of Sabah and Sabahans. 

Thirdly, it seems that they are more interested in bowing to their political masters from Malaya and protecting their party’s interests and their interests and positions which will be jeopardized if they go against the wish of their political masters and finally, they are just accepting whatever is being shaft down their throats without thinking and evaluating what needs to be done from the perspective of Sabah.

It also lends credence to the saying by people that Sabah BN leaders are remote-controlled by their masters in Kuala Lumpur/Putrajaya.

Its just over 1 month after being elected by Sabahans in the general elections and the Sabah BN leaders are already forgetting about the interests of Sabah and its people.  The people should seriously whether these leaders ought to continue to represent them or be booted out.

On the other hand, the Sabah BN leaders also fail to recognize that it is the duty and responsibility that the federal government to raise and provide development allocations.  Tiny Perlis and other States without much revenue are still entitled to its development allocations but it does mean that Sabah should be deprived of their allocations.

If the federal government feels that Sabah is a liability and is so difficult to reimburse Sabah’s entitlement and also to provide development allocations, it should just allow Sabah to go free and allow Sabah to manage its own revenue and resources.  There is no in point keeping Sabah which is a burden given that the federal government has got a national debt in excess of RM508 billion.

26 comments:

  1. INLAND REVENUE BOARD ALREADY TELL THE TRUTH

    Inland Revenue Board (IRB), Sabah regretted that Bingkor Assemblyman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan had chosen to use the misquoted figure in respect of the so-called projected tax revenue to be collected from Sabah by the federal government.

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  2. INLAND REVENUE BOARD ALREADY TELL THE TRUTH

    Its director Haji Kamaruzzaman Ab Salleh said the figure reported by a local English language newspaper (English and Kadazandusun sections) on May 22 this year was not the correct one.

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  3. INLAND REVENUE BOARD ALREADY TELL THE TRUTH

    He said instead of RM4 billion as announced by IRB Sabah as being the collection targetted for 2013, RM40 billion was instead quoted. Kamaruzzaman said they had immediately issued a press release on May 22 through Bernama, the national news agency, to request for a correction, and again, on June 4.

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  4. INLAND REVENUE BOARD ALREADY TELL THE TRUTH

    “For Sabah, the targetted collection this year is RM4 billion. Last year, our targetted collection was RM3.45 billion but the actual collection for the year was higher, that is, RM3.67 billion.”

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  5. INLAND REVENUE BOARD ALREADY TELL THE TRUTH

    “However, this is a gross figure as it includes possible refunds and repayments. The RM3.085 million figure referred to by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman cum Minister of Finance in his winding up speech at the State Assembly could be the nett collection for 2012,” he explained.

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  6. INLAND REVENUE BOARD ALREADY TELL THE TRUTH

    Meanwhile, when contacted for his comment, the state EPU director, Datuk Ismail Abdullah said it is illogical that Sabah could yield such astronomical tax collection annually.

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  7. INLAND REVENUE BOARD ALREADY TELL THE TRUTH

    He said based on the clarification by the IRB Sabah director, and knowing that income or direct taxes are the biggest component – at around 70 %, of the total federal tax collection – the Chief Minister was definitely correct when he said in his winding up speech that the federal government spent far more in Sabah than what it got in terms of tax collection.

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  8. INLAND REVENUE BOARD ALREADY TELL THE TRUTH

    He said the Chief Minister’s statement pertaining to this matter was based on facts as supplied by the Accountant General Department’s office in Sabah and that there was no issue. “Either Dr Jeffery is very selective in his use of figure, or he is not thorough in his reading and research at all,” Ismail said.

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  9. Ketua Menteri Sabah, Datuk Seri Musa Aman percaya isu penyemakan semula royalti minyak sebanyak lima peratus yang dibayar kepada Sabah adalah terbuka untuk dibincangkan antara kerajaan negeri dan Kerajaan Pusat secara baik.

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    Replies
    1. Kadar royalti harus dikaji dan dipertngkatkan lagi.

      Delete
  10. Dipetik Bernama, Musa berkata, Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak adalah seorang pemimpin yang amat prihatin dan sedia mendengar suara dan keperluan rakyat.

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  11. Beliau yang juga Menteri Kewangan Negeri berkata, hubungan baik antara kerajaan negeri dan kerajaan persekutuan juga terbukti memberi manfaat kepada rakyat Sabah melalui pemberian peruntukan yang besar yang banyak membantu menjana sosioekonomi selain memacu kemajuan negeri ini.

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    Replies
    1. Peruntukan yang disalurkan akan membawa ekonomi Sabah ke arah yang lebih maju.

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  12. "Oleh itu, saya percaya isu (royalti minyak) terbuka untuk dibincangkan dan apa yang penting ialah kita bincang dengan membuat kajian untuk kita perhalusi dan seterusnya mengambil keputusan yang terbaik demi kepentingan semua pihak yang terlibat," katanya.

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  13. Ketua Menteri Sarawak Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud dipetik sebagai berkata bahawa kerajaan negeri itu akan berbincang dengan Kerajaan Pusat mengenai keperluan untuk menyemak semula kadar semasa lima peratus royalti petroleum yang dibayar kepada Sarawak berdasarkan hubungan rapat sedia ada antara kedua-dua pihak.

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  14. Sambil bersetuju bahawa pemimpin negeri daripada pihak kerajaan dan pembangkang di negeri itu mencapai kesepakatan berhubung isu itu, Taib berkata, kedua-dua pihak perlu duduk berbincang mengenainya.

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  15. Najib mengumumkan bahawa sebuah jawatankuasa khas ditubuhkan untuk mengkaji secara adil dan telus berhubung isu bayaran tunai daripada hasil petroleum kepada negeri-negeri di Pantai Timur Semenanjung Malaysia dan jawatankuasa itu diberi enam bulan untuk mengkaji perkara itu sebelum membuat cadangan kepada kerajaan pusat, yang akan menamatkan segala persoalan yang menyelubungi isu pembayaran royalti.

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  16. Timbalan Ketua Menteri Sabah yang baru dilantik, Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, berkata negeri ini mensasarkan untuk memperolehi kira-kira 10 peratus daripada jumlah pelaburan negara ini menjelang akhir tahun 2013.

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  17. Menurut Timbalan Ketua Menteri itu, pelaburan pada tahun lalu di Sabah berjumlah sebanyak RM11.6 bilion atau hampir 10 peratus daripada RM162.4 bilion pelaburan negara secara keseluruhan.

    "Kita berada di tempat kedua selepas Selangor, yang menarik jumlah pelaburan sebanyak RM23.4 bilion. Saya percaya kita boleh melakukan yang lebih baik tahun ini," kata Tan yakin

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    Replies
    1. Sabah seharus lebih berkembang jika dibandingkan. Negeri manakah yang mengandungi sumber yang banyak seperti Sabah?

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  18. Keyakinan beliau disokong oleh pelaburan yang dijana melalui Koridor Pembangunan Sabah (SDC) sejak ia dilancarkan lima tahun lalu. Katanya, pelaburan kira-kira RM5 bilion sudah diluluskan iaitu pelaburan terbesar setakat ini di antara lima koridor pembangunan sedia ada di Malaysia.

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  19. Tan juga menjangkakan lebih banyak limpahan ekonomi daripada industri minyak dan gas yang sedang bertapak di negeri ini dan menyuarakan harapan yang ia akan menarik pelaburan besar ke Sabah.

    "Bagaimanapun, menarik pelaburan yang besar ke Sabah memerlukan masa yang banyak, sama seperti Loji Pemprosesan Amonia Urea Sabah (SAMUR) di Sipitang," katanya. "Ia mengambil setahun untuk menyiapkan kerja-kerja infrastruktur di sana."

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  20. Tan juga menyifatkan keupayaan negeri untuk menarik pelaburan kerana tadbir urus yang baik dan pengurusan dana.

    "Kita mempunyai bajet yang sangat tinggi dari segi pendapatan dan perbelanjaan. Saya rasa ia bermula dari RM3.5 bilion kepada RM4 bilion.

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  21. Sabah deseve a better royalty. Government should take prompt action and strike for the people.

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