KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is expecting more than RM200mil from the Federal Government to manage natural disasters, said state Assistant Finance Minister Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan.

       He said the state government had put in a request to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob during the National Disaster Management Committee meeting.

       The request was for RM147mil for infrastructure repairs due to floods and RM83mil for Covid-19 expenditure, he said.

       The recent RM18mil presented by the Prime Minister was for immediate use, including for Covid-19 management.

       Nizam said prior to this, the State Disaster Management Committee received RM8mil for disaster relief.

       He said this following Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin’s statement that the allocated funds for disasters and Covid-19 management in Sabah were insufficient and unfair.

       Chan had said that allocations for Sabah were so much less compared to other states, which were many times smaller in size.

       “The Kota Kinabalu MP should have checked his facts first before making comments with the intent to gain political mileage,” Nizam said.