Sabah, poorest in Malaysia despite 58 years of nationhood, says Jeffrey

 

Jeffrey Kitingan laments how despite having abundant resources, Sabah is ‘financially, economically, politically and militarily dependent’ on Putrajaya.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan says Sabahans are continuously met with “disappointment and even sorrow” despite 58 years passing since the formation of Malaysia.

“After a promising start to the federation, Sabahans have increasingly realised that they have been shortchanged in this partnership,” he said in a statement today.

The Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) president visited the Batu Sumpah, which is an oath stone commemorating the country’s formation, on the eve of Malaysia Day. It is located in his interior Keningau parliamentary constituency.

“Admittedly, we have seen some progress but compared with Singapore and Brunei, both of which opted out of this federation, Sabah’s development has been severely stunted.”

Jeffrey Kitingan.

Kitingan said there were many factors for this lack of development, with one of them being the 40% of the net revenue derived by the federal government in the state still owed to Sabah.

“Our 10% export on petroleum duty in lieu of royalties has also never been paid. At the same time, our 10% import duty on petroleum products has not been paid fully but replaced with a fixed amount of RM120 million since 2007.

“In terms of resources, our oil and gas have been unconstitutionally taken over by Petronas which is 100% owned by the federal government.

“This is while our children have struggled to find jobs in federal departments in Sabah. Most of the ranks are dominated by Malayans.”

Besides that, Kitingan contended that Sabah’s security was also deliberately jeopardised by the importation of Muslim foreign labour from neighbouring countries, namely Indonesia and the Philippines.

“They were later granted backdoor citizenship and mobilised as voters to change the demography of Sabah and the political landscape through Project IC, also known as ‘Projek Mahathir’,” he said.

He added that despite Sabah having abundant resources, the state has been made “financially, economically, politically and militarily dependent” on Putrajaya.

“Even its political power was purposely weakened by inadequate parliamentary representation that does not reflect its status as an equal partner in the federation,” he said, referring to Sabah and Sarawak not having at least one-third representation in Parliament.

“The impact of all these violations is clear – Sabah has become the poorest state in Malaysia.”

As the country commemorates Malaysia Day, Kitingan believed it was important to reflect on what the federation signified, as well as its history and goals.

“The proclamation of Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963 acknowledged the nationhood status of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore and this reflected their aspiration at the beginning of the process of forming Malaysia.

“However, the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) did not reflect this proclamation as it was signed on July 9, 1963, even before the process was completed and at a time when Sabah and Sarawak were still colonies,” he said.

As a result, he believed it was reasonable to question why MA63 was signed before the process was completed, why it was never amended and whether Sabah and Sarawak were federated with Malaya as a whole or with individual states within Malaya, as some have claimed.

“If we are to move forward as a federated nation, it is critical that these concerns or anomalies be resolved because we do not want to be Malayan colonies,” Kitingan said.

For this reason, he has insisted that the independence of Sabah and Sarawak, the missing piece in the formation of Malaysia, be restored to the pages of this federation’s history in order for it to be complete.

Sarawak gained self-governance on July 22, 1963, while Sabah proclaimed independence on Aug 31, 1963.

“Sept 16 is a celebration of a partnership, not a colonial takeover. Sabah and Sarawak did not become part of Malaysia. Rather, we founded Malaysia together with the federation of Malaya.

“More importantly, we should not confuse Malaya with Malaysia. Malaysia is a new federation that was established in 1963, not in 1957.

“The time has come to fulfil this partnership and the terms of this relationship,” Kitingan said. - FMT