5 of 13 demands related to MA63 fulfilled, Sarawak assembly told

 

Sarawak assistant minister Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali says the federal government has agreed to review the special grant under the Federal Constitution to the state.

KUCHING: Five demands relating to Sarawak’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) have been fulfilled, Assistant Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Minister Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali said today.

She said this included the demand to review the special grant for the state under Article 112D of the Federal Constitution.

“We will discuss it further to finalise the procedure (for the grant),” she told the state legislative assembly today.

Sharifah said Putrajaya had agreed to hand over the regulation of gas distribution in accordance with the state’s Distribution of Gas Ordinance 2016.

She also said the federal government had agreed to hand over authority to Sarawak, through a subsidiary legislation, to handle “labour conditions peculiar to the state” under the state labour ordinances.

Replying to a query from Dr Juanda Jaya (GPS-Jemoreng) during question time, she said the federal government had agreed to hand over the delegation of powers under the Environmental Quality Act 1974 to the Sarawak government to oversee environmental matters such as scheduled waste.

Putrajaya had also agreed to return land that was no longer needed by the federal government but placed under the Federal Land Commission.

“A committee has been set up to look into a comprehensive method for the implementation process,” she said.

Sharifah said the GPS government had managed to resolve five of the 13 issues and demands with the federal government.

“We will continue to negotiate the remaining eights issues with the Special Cabinet Committee on MA63,” she said.

The issues relate to federal financial obligations under the joint list, legal authority on tourism, the state’s authority over health issues, implementation of federal works, Article 112 of the Federal Constitution regarding establishment of departments and salaries, stamp duty related to the Sarawak land ordinance, mineral gas, and the Territorial Sea Act (Act 570).

Sharifah said the GPS government had also raised several non-negotiable matters relating to the MA63, including the state’s immigration autonomy, the right to enforce state ordinances in accordance with the Federal Constitution, protection of the state’s borders and sovereignty over the sea, underground and resources within the state. - FMT