KOTA KINABALU: Sabah hopes the RM6.7 billion development allocation for the state in the 2025 Budget can be kept in a trust fund.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said by putting the money in a trust fund, Sabah could use it whenever it is necessary.
He said in the past, the allocation came near the end of the year.
"At the end of the year when you get the money, the account has to be closed and you have to return the money.
"This time, we want it to be put in a trust development account so that we can proceed with the implementation," he told the media after launching the first state-owned deep fishing vessel here.
Kitingan, who is state agriculture, fisheries and food industry minister, said the trust fund would be set up by next year.
On the doubling of the Sabah and Sarawak special grant to RM600 million, he said Sabah welcomed it as an interim payment.
"We want a final resolution so that we can get it resolved.
"We have waited for 61 years. Why not resolve it once and for all?
"We hope it will be resolved within the next one or two years."