Kota Kinabalu: The Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Implementation Action Council meeting held here recently made progress on several key issues but left a crucial matter unaddressed, according to Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.
He expressed disappointment that Sabah’s long-standing claim for the 40 per cent revenue share was not on the agenda.
“Oh, it’s water under the bridge already. I do not want to comment because it was not on the agenda, on the last MA63 meeting,” he said.
"I did try to raise it up, but I was told to be patient,” he said, adding that he had already voiced his concerns at a separate event at the Batu Sumpah.
The Batu Sumpah, also known as the Keningau Oath Stone, is a monument in Keningau dedicated to the union of the British Crown province of North Borneo with the previous province of Sarawak and the Federation of Malaya to become Malaysia.
Despite this setback, Jeffrey expressed his optimism about future resolutions.
“We will continue to demand the resolution of the 40 per cent because it is our right, it’s in the Constitution and it’s one of the basic conditions why we formed Malaysia.
“I am hopeful and I am confident that this Madani government will deal with it and resolve it.
“We, of course, when we look at the RM600 million that was given, we look at it from the perspective of what we have gotten before that. It means the interim payment is growing. It’s the best that we have received so far on the interim.
“But we do not want to continue to have interim payments. We want to have it finalised,” he said.
The high-level gathering, which brought together Federal and Sabah leaders, presented four main areas, namely, education authority delegation in Sarawak, Federal financial obligations, increased parliamentary representation for Sabah and Sarawak and matters related to Land Ordinances and the Federal constitution.
