KOTA KINABALU: Sabah must unite and keep pushing for its rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), including the 40% net revenue owed to the state to be returned, said Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan (pic).
The Sabah STAR president said there is no way around MA63, which must be fulfilled.
He said if the people unite and all politicians unite for this common goal, there is no reason why it cannot be achieved.
“If the federal government continues to ignore our claims and what we deserve to get, there is going to be a bigger gap, and more issues will arise in future,” said Kitingan.
Touching on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s statement that the recent RM16bil development funds allocated to the state were more than the 40% value, he said this figure does not seem right.
“But assuming that this amount makes sense, and 40% is only RM10bil, and I am just giving an example for calculation's sake, from 1974 until today, how many tens of billions should be returned then?” he asked.
“There are many more taxes that we have to count from and get our payments from,” Kitingan said.
He said this during a talk on MA63 on Saturday (June 1), which was held in conjunction with the Sabah Tanah Airku tour here.
He said that after the MA63 is fulfilled, Sabah must move forward in developing the state and pursue rights over authorities where it should have jurisdiction over petroleum, royalties, and others.
Usno president Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia was also present to give a talk at the event.
