KOTA KINABALU – The remaining four demands from Sabah and Sarawak in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) will be looked into again by the special committee under the Perikatan Nasional federal government, said minister Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili today.
The minister in the prime minister’s department (Sabah and Sarawak affairs) told the Dewan Rakyat that the four items were part of a separate discussion involving the east Malaysian chief ministers and the prime minister during the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.
“They involve oil royalty and petroleum cash payment, oil minerals and oil fields, the Territorial Sea Act 2012, and state rights to the continental shelf,” said Ongkili, adding that the PN special committee will now pick up on the issues.
He said this in his winding-up speech for Budget 2021 today, adding that the special council on Malaysia Agreement 1963 will meet for the first time on November 30.
Ongkili said the special committee will discuss the scope of powers of the chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak, and the administrative autonomy of the Sabah and Sarawak court administration and the Borneo judiciary to hear appeals filed in Borneo, as well as the appointment of the judiciary commissioner and stamp duty on transfer, charges, and land lease under the Land Ordinances of Sarawak and Sabah.
Earlier, Ongkili said 17 of Sabah’s 21 demands had been met in the previous PH special committee for the same purpose.
The 17 demands are related to:
- Duty on timber and forest products for Sabah
- Return of the Sipadan and Ligitan islands
- Agriculture and forestry
- Liquefied petroleum gas for Sarawak
- Return of electricity and gas authority to Sabah
- Federal public works in Sabah and Sarawak
- Manpower
- State authority on health
- Federal financial obligation under the joint list
- Revision on the special grant
- Fisheries
- Land, environmental and tourism laws
- Federal position
- Devolution of powers to Sabah and Sarawak's courts
On matters related to Sarawak’s gas and petroleum demands, Ongkili said the prime minister appointed the finance minister and senior works minister to discuss the oil royalty with Petronas and the Sarawak government in a joint committee managed by the Finance Ministry.
Maintaining there was no need to make public the final report from the cabinet special committee on MA63, Ongkili said the nature of the report was technical, and the federal, Sabah and Sarawak governments are still in discussions.
On the restoration of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners in the Federation of Malaysia, Ongkili said there were still matters that need further deliberation, especially on the implications if Article 1(2) of the federal constitution is amended.
The Special Council on Malaysia Agreement 1963 was formed on September 16, comprising the prime minister, the chief ministers of Sabah and Sarawak, eight federal ministers, and high-ranking state and federal officers. – The Vibes, November 23, 2020
