KUCHING: The technical committee of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Implementation Action Council will meet on March 2 to discuss outstanding issues.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak) Datuk Mustapha Sakmud, who disclosed this, said special grants to Sabah and Sarawak under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution would be among the issues discussed.
“Several issues remain unresolved and we will try to seek a resolution in the technical committee. Any decision made by the technical committee will be brought to the main committee later,” he told reporters after addressing federal department heads at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar here yesterday.
Mustapha said one issue which made headway was the Borneonisation agenda of the federal civil service in Sabah and Sarawak.
He said 87.5% of federal civil servants in Sarawak comprised Sarawakians, with Sabah hitting 71.88%.
“We have not set a specific target percentage but want to boost the Borneonisation agenda,” he said.
In his speech earlier, Mustapha said 13 of 29 key demands under MA63 had been resolved.
He said phase one of the MA63 digital dashboard launched last month could be accessed on the Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Division’s official portal.
“Over 6,000 visitors have accessed the dashboard to obtain verified information on the implementation of MA63,” he said.
Mustapha said the Federal Government would leave it to the court to decide on Sarawak’s legal petition on the validity and applicability of petroleum-related federal laws.
Mustapha said Putrajaya respected the Sarawak government’s action to file the petition in the Federal Court.
“We respect it, let the court decide based on existing laws and facts,” he said.
The state government filed the petition on Monday seeking to determine the constitutional validity of the Petroleum Development Act 1974, Continental Shelf Act 1966 and Petroleum Mining Act 1966, and whether these continue to apply to Sarawak.
