KUCHING – An agreement has been reached between the Sarawak government and the federal government to fulfil five out of 13 demands relating to the state’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Assistant Minister for Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali said of the remaining eight demands, four were still in the process of negotiation, and the other four were being discussed at the joint committee level.
She said the five demands to be fulfilled included the review of special grants to Sarawak under Article 112D of the federal constitution; the handover of power to oversee the distribution of gas to Sarawak under the Distribution of Gas Ordinance 2016, and the devolution of power to legislate on labour conditions peculiar to Sarawak.
Also fulfilled were demands to have the federal government hand power under the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127) to the state government to regulate environmental matters, including scheduled waste; and to return the ownership of federal land in the state.
Sharifah said this in reply to Datuk Dr Juanda Jaya (GPS-Jemoreng) who wanted to know the latest status of MA63 at the state assembly sitting here today.
“Sarawak will continue to pursue and bring up the remaining demands with the federal government under the leadership of Perikatan Nasional to restore Sarawak's rights as enshrined in MA63 and the federal constitution,” she said.
Sharifah said at the federal level, a special cabinet committee had also been set up to pursue and monitor the implementation of the decisions made by the previous committee.
She added the Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Division in the Prime Minister's Department had been appointed in turn as the secretariat to monitor the implementation of the policy by the special cabinet committee. – Bernama, November 11, 2020
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