Sabah receives RM22.75 mln grant for biodiversity conservation

KOTA KINABALU (March 9): Sabah received an RM22.75 million grant from the federal government under its Ecological Fiscal Transfer (EFT) initiative to support the state government’s environment conservation efforts.

The grant, which as now amounted to RM126.36 million since 2019, was presented to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor by Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Datuk Seri Arthur Joseph Kurup at Menara Kinabalu here yesterday.

“This clearly shows the federal government’s acknowledgement of the state government’s sound environmental conservation policy. The state government welcomes the continuous support from the federal government,” he said.

During the meeting, Hajiji and Arthur also discussed the amendment to the Environment Quality Act 1974 and harmonisation of the National Climate Change Bill with Sabah’s legislation to ensure benefits of the carbon economy can be optimised by the state government.

Also present was the ministry’s deputy secretary-general Datuk Nor Yahati Awang.