KOTA KINABALU: The granting of administrative authority in the education and health sectors in Sabah and Sarawak, especially the recruitment of staff, is one of the important matters being discussed by the federal government via the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) secretariat.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said Sabah and Sarawak faced challenges in the education and health sectors because planning involving the sectors was implemented in Putrajaya including important issues such as the recruitment of staff like teachers and health workers.

Elaborating further, he said that when vacancies were offered, most of the vacancies were filled by candidates who did not want to work in Sabah or Sarawak due to serving in interior areas, and eventually the positions were filled but there were no officers serving in the two states.

"In the context of administrative powers in education and health (given) to Sabah and Sarawak, especially hiring, we can determine vacant positions to be filled and (candidates) be able to work in Sabah and Sarawak.

"Currently we are waiting for the methods and terms that will be presented by the governments of Sabah and Sarawak for us to discuss together at the federal level," he said at a press conference after attending the LKM Appreciation Ceremony here today.

Meanwhile, Fadillah said through the MA63 secretariat that the federal government has conceptually agreed for the Sabah and Sarawak governments to take back land, which the federal government took for development if the land is not developed or abandoned after five years.

"Return to the state governments (Sabah and Sarawak) by paying back the compensation at the rate that was first (received), if part of the development is made and then abandoned, the cost of building the infrastructure and so on will also be returned," he said.

He said that the matter is currently awaiting discussion in a technical meeting, which was previously postponed because the Ministry of Finance has not been able to finalise some related matters.

He said the other two matters being discussed are regarding the formula for determining special grants to Sabah and Sarawak based on Article 112D of the Federal Constitution, as well as a more appropriate division of Parliamentary seats between the Peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak.

"The amount of (special) interim grants to the governments of Sabah and Sarawak has increased. It used to be small. Now, almost RM300 million will be distributed annually on an interim basis while we are still negotiating the formula on how to determine the distribution method," he said.

-- BERNAMA