Govt stands firm on decision not to disclose final report on MA63

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has reiterated its decision to not disclose its final report by the Cabinet special committee that reviewed the implementation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), says Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak affairs) Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib.

She said the government opines that there isn’t a need to make public its final report, as it involved sensitive matters classified as official secrets.

“The decision was made after taking into account various aspects such as the law and its contents, as well as discussions which contain technicalities and sensitive matters classified as official secrets, ” she said in Parliament on Tuesday (Nov 17) during Question Time.

She was responding to Datuk Mohd Aziz Jamman (Warisan-Sepanggar), who asked if the government has any intention to make public its Cabinet special committee final report on the implementation of MA63.

Azis subsequently asked a supplementary question to Hanifah on whether the government is willing to speed up the implementation of MA63.

Hanifah, in a simple reply, merely said that the government is trying its best on the matter.

“There are also issues that have been implemented and some are still in discussions. God-willing, they will be implemented as soon as possible, ” she added.

It was previously reported that 17 out of 21 issues identified by the committee had been agreed upon and the remaining four were still under discussion.

The outstanding issues were oil royalties, oil minerals and oil fields, the Territorial Sea Act 2012 and state rights over the continental shelf.