Sabah sticks by 200-mile limit for sea boundary, says Hajiji

 

The Sabah state government is standing by a colonial-era state law on its maritime boundary, says the chief minister. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: The Sabah government is maintaining its stand in rejecting the Territorial Sea Act, which limits the state’s maritime boundary to only three nautical miles, chief minister Hajiji Noor said today.

Hajiji reiterated the state government’s stand at a meeting today of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) implementation action council in Kuching, Sarawak. He said the act had impeded Sabah’s ability to impose its own laws on matters beyond three nautical miles at sea.

Such state laws included the state sales tax, especially involving petroleum products, and the powers of state authorities on immigration, Bernama reported.

He said Sabah held to its view that the maritime boundary should be more than 200 nautical miles as stated in the colonial-era North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council 1954, which covers the continental shelf.

Hajiji said the state government welcomed an announcement by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim that all outstanding issues over MA63 had passed the discussion process and were now in the implementation stage.

“The only issue is about technicalities, and we look forward to working with the federal government to ensure all our demands are fully resolved.” He expressed confidence that Sabah’s MA63 demands would soon be resolved amicably under Anwar’s leadership.

He said the Sabah government also welcomed the prime minister’s acknowledgement that Malaysia comprised three entities: Sabah, Sarawak and the States of Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia), as stated in the Malaysia Agreement.

The MA63 implementation action council meeting was chaired by Anwar and attended by Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg, deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof, and the minister for Sabah and Sarawak and special functions, Armizan Ali. - FMT