By Olivia Miwil
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah received an interim Special Grant payment of RM600 million from the federal government on June 12.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had announced the increase of Sabah's interim Special Grant to RM1.5 billion during the 2026 Sabah State Kaamatan Festival celebration on May 30, 2026.
Assistant State Finance Minister Datuk Mohd Ishak Ayub said several rounds of correspondence between the federal government and the Sabah government had taken place on June 9, June 19 and June 26, 2026.
"Accordingly, the state government has requested that the remaining RM900 million be disbursed within this year.
"The Sabah government emphasises that its agreement to the new RM1.5 billion Special Grant is an interim arrangement and should not be interpreted as acceptance of the final amount of the Special Grant.
"The agreement was made without prejudice to Sabah's constitutional rights under Articles 112C and 112D of the Federal Constitution, and does not affect the need to continue negotiations on implementing the 40 per cent formula in determining the final amount of the Special Grant that Sabah is entitled to receive."
He said this in response to a question by Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau (Upko-Tamparuli) on the status of payment received from the federal government during the question-and-answer session at the state legislative assembly sitting.
Ishak said if no agreement on the final amount of the Special Grant can be reached through negotiations, an independent assessor should be appointed, as provided for under Article 112D(6) of the Federal Constitution.
Meanwhile, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the state is aiming to achieve 50 per cent renewable energy capacity by 2035.
"At present, Sabah has about 307 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy capacity, accounting for about 16 per cent of the state's total power generation capacity mix," he said.
He said this in a reply to a question by Datuk Seri Arthur Kurup (PBRS-Sook), who asked about Sabah's direction in increasing renewable energy capacity by 2030 and the strategic projects currently being implemented or planned to achieve that target.
Hajiji said strategic projects include 450MW Large-Scale Solar (LSS) projects, a 200MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project, a 100MW wind power generation project, the 187MW Upper Padas Hydroelectric Project and the 162MW Oriole Padas Hydroelectric Project, among others.
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