HAVING ALREADY been assured of full jurisdiction over its health and education sectors, the Sarawak government has officially sought autonomous control on all matters related to the environment in this vast state.
It is seeking total control over policy-making and administration, as well as power over monetary revenue from the abundant natural resources.
Negotiations to kickstart the quest for full autonomy have taken place between the state’s Ministry of Town Planning, Land Resources and Environment and its federal counterpart in Putrajaya, the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change.
State Deputy Minister Datuk Len Taliff Salleh today said Sarawak leaders want to take over total control of the state's environment so that all decision making and resource management will be centred locally.
"The negotiations to take over autonomous control of our state's environment management from Putrajaya is already proceeding well as far as the administration issues are concerned.
"Our aim is to have full autonomous control over policies, decision making and financial management of all our environmental resources.
"It will be a complicated process as it involves many ministries and many departments.
"There are many legal procedures we need to deal with too," he said during a dialogue session at the Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board head office in Kuching today.
Taliff said the state government hopes to secure autonomous control of its environment in stages.
"Due to its legal complexity and the fact that many ministries and departments at both state and national levels are involved, we cannot set a fixed time frame to acquire total autonomy control," he noted.
More rounds of negotiation between Kuching and Putrajaya will be carried out in the months to come, he added.
Putrajaya has already agreed in principle to hand over autonomous control of health and education to the Sarawak state government. – The Vibes, January 19, 2024
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