KOTA KINABALU: A high-level joint committee on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) is the only platform to resolve the rights of the Bornean states, the former minister in charge of Sabah and Sarawak said.
Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said that without a joint committee, it would be difficult to resolve key outstanding issues to overcome ministries trying to protect their own interests.
He added that the key issues were the 40% reimbursement of revenue collected from Sabah, revision and repayment of backlog of grants under Article 112D of the Constitution, restoration of original rights of Bornean courts as well as the continental shelf issue and revision of the annual 5% oil royalties for the two states.
“All these matters can only be resolved through a joint committee involving the Federal, Sabah and Sarawak governments as well as related Federal ministries.
“Contrary to what the Prime Minister has said, committees are needed. The resolution of MA63 rights cannot move on without committees to resolve ministerial interests and selfishness because without committees, respective ministers will want to protect their turf and avoid losing power,” Ongkili said, concurring with former law minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar’s statement on the need for a committee to resolve MA63 issues.
“These rights can only be resolved by pulling together heads of people who are involved in the implementation machinery, especially since such matters involve law, policy and implementation.
“This is what happened in the past; nothing could ever be resolved because people moved in unitary fashion, operating in silos,” said Ongkili, who is Parti Bersatu Sabah president.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has indicated to Sabah leaders that he would prefer to go for direct implementation of outstanding MA63 issues, instead of prolonging it with committees.
Ongkili said they had previously made progress in issues pertaining to the rights of Bornean states and were working on the outstanding matters with the government.
