Only courts should decide MA63 breaches: Sabah PKR
Published on: Sunday, December 08, 2019
By: Hayati Dzulkifli
KUALA LUMPUR: Only the courts can interpret the contents of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) which is an international document that has been included in the Federal Constitution and needs to be complied with, said Putatan MP Awang Husaini Sahari (pic).
Hence, he said the Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Affairs, Minister of Finance and certainly GLCs like Petronas have no right to interpret the contents of the MA63, especially with regard to the rights of Sabah and Sarawak.
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“Putrajaya should be aware that they have breached the trust granted in MA63 that was signed by the United Kingdom, Federation of Tanah Melayu, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore.
“Although they have no right to interpret MA63, I am puzzled as to how the Federal Government seems to have more power than the Sabah and Sarawak governments to decide what to give to both East Malaysian states in certain cases.
“A glaring example is when the Finance Minister touched on Article 112D of the Federal Constitution when tabling his 2020 National Budget speech. However, he did not touch on Schedule 10(44) Item 2 of the Constitution which clearly states that any revenue collected by the Federal Government from Sabah, 40 per cent of it must be returned to the State,” he said when debating the 2020 National Budget, here.
Based on the allocation of RM53 million as a special grant for Sabah as allocated in the 2020 National Budget, Awang Husaini asked whether such figure is equivalent to the 40 per cent of federal revenue taken from Sabah.
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If it is the case, he said, then it did not make sense and also absurd because the Federal Government only collected RM132 million from Sabah when Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) showed Sabah contributed RM80 billion from last year’s economy.
Awang Husaini said representatives of the people were lawmakers in the Parliament while the laws that were created could not exceed the limits set by the Constitution, so only the court can interpret the contents of the MA63.
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He pointed out that previously Sabahans and State leaders did not understand MA63, but that has changed since MA63 has become a very critical issue for Sabah.
He said the people of Sabah were aware that their rights in the 235-page document had to be fulfilled as promised.
In his debate, Awang Husaini questioned whether Federal Government leaders were aware that the Petroleum Development Act 1974 was in conflict with the Constitution, while some other acts such as the Continental Shelf Act 1969, the Maritime Act 2012 and the Exclusive Economic Zone 1984 actually did not apply to the waters of Sabah and Sarawak.
In this regard, he said on what basis the Federal Government has allowed Petronas to undertake oil and gas exploration works in Sabah and Sarawak waters.
“I raise this issue because oil and gas is one of Sabah’s resources of income, but the distribution of those resources is very small for Sabah even though Sabah is a continental shelf.
“Only in the name that Sabah and Sarawak as the owners (for the oil and gas), but currently the oil and gas are operated by Petronas and protected by the Federal Government without the full consent of the Sabah Government.
Awang Husaini said he also noted that the 2020 National Budget and in the previous budgets, there was no mention or written that the Federal Government has debts to Sabah. Hence, he hoped that a measure would be taken to address this.
Apart from this, he said, there is another issue that is closely related to regulating deep-sea fisheries activities, adding that when Order 7 1969 came into force on August 1969, all the maritime territories of the states were reduced to just three nautical miles.
However, he said, when it was abolished in 2011, it meant that the coastal areas of Sabah and Sarawak returned to their original owners.
“According to the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Sabah’s coastal area is no more than 350 nautical miles from the coast.
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