MA63 technical committee first meeting a good start, says Sabah MP

Chan Foong Hin. (Bernama pic)

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah DAP secretary Chan Foong Hin is pleased that the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Technical Committee finally held its first meeting today at the Law Affairs Unit in Putrajaya.

In a statement today, Chan who is also Kota Kinabalu MP said the committee had discussed and agreed to the general timeline and agenda, including the appointment of members for each of the working committees.

There are three levels of committees charged to review and implement MA63, namely the Steering Committee, Technical Committee and Working Committee. The Steering Committee, which is chaired by the prime minister, held its first meeting on Dec 17 last year.

Chan, who is amongst the first batch of sixteen committee members appointed to the Technical Committee, stated that he is honoured to be appointed together with other state lawmakers and experts.

“It is not an easy task but I am confident that with my experience as a lawmaker in both the state assembly and now in parliament, I can represent Sabah in the discussion and to reach a solution that will be beneficial for Sabahans.”

He described the meeting as being fruitful as a strict timeline has been fixed for the deliverables.

“All three committees are given six months to prepare a comprehensive report to the cabinet containing proposals and suggestions leading to the amendment of the Federal Constitution, including but not limited to Article 1(2).

“The Technical Committee itself will be meeting at least once a month and from there we will be able to monitor closely the work done by the Working Committee and ensure that things are moving along,” he said. -FMT