MA63: Sabah denies adopting ‘wait and see’ approach
Published on: Monday, April 06, 2020
File photo from Bernama.
Kota Kinabalu: The State Government has been working hard to fight for the rights of Sabah under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), said Infrastructure Development Minister Datuk Peter Anthony.Refuting an accusation by Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) President Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing that Sabah is taking the “wait-and-see” approach, Peter said there might be differences in approach as to how Sabah and Sarawak choose to handle and get back rights under MA63, but “this should not be used as political mileage.”
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He said Sabah and Sarawak always had close relationships with each other and there has been no meddling in one another’s way of governance all this while.
“As such, this close relationship should be maintained and not jeopardised,” he said in a statement, Sunday.
He said Masing’s statement was a black mark in the history of Sabah and Sarawak’s history of governance and must be stopped immediately.
He demanded that Masing apologise to the Sabah Government for his comments.
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Masing, who is also Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister, had also said earlier that Sabah and Sarawak should stand together to fight for their rights, instead of Sabah riding on Sarawak’s coattails all the time.
In the same report, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) Vice-President Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah echoed Masing’s statement, saying “despite Sabah and Sarawak are allowed under the Federal Constitution to impose sales tax on petroleum products, Sabah has been reluctant to follow Sarawak’s stand before this.”
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On petroleum rights, Peter said the Sabah Government had succeeded in amending Section 4 of the Sabah Land Ordinance (Cap 68) in 2018 to enable Sabah to claim rights over natural revenue tax in the continental shelf area under a new definition of land.
“Prior to that, the natural claim rights were limited due to the Petroleum Development Act signed in 1974, and the previous State government had overlooked this important matter for 57 years,” he said.
He said the State Government has also worked hard to fight for MA63 in the Parliament.
However, the effort to amend the Federal Constitution relating to MA63 had been hampered due to the failure to get a two-thirds majority in Parliament last year.
The Special MA63 Cabinet Committee chaired by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was also formed to find a resolution through negotiation involving the Federal, Sabah and Sarawak governments.
“Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has always been consistent in his stand on fighting for our rights and also in helping the people regardless of race, religion and political ideology.
“He (Shafie) has been standing firmly throughout the meetings on MA63 in Putrajaya.
“The fact that Sabah has yet to bring a case relating to MA63 in court does not mean that it is siding Putrajaya or trying to be in the good books of Putrajaya.”Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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