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| The Special Cabinet Committee To Review the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) has resolved seven issues related to the implementation of Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63) in Sabah and Sarawak. By Olivia Miwil - August 19, 2019 @ 8:09pm
KOTA KINABALU: The Special Cabinet Committee To Review the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) has resolved seven issues related to the implementation of Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63) in Sabah and Sarawak.
Another 14 issues involving the two East Malaysian states and the Federal Government require further discussion and are expected to be resolved before Aug 31, said a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The statement said the Special Cabinet Committee to review the MA63 implementation held its fourth meeting on July 23.
The statement said it was chaired by the prime minister and attended by 23 committee members, including federal cabinet ministers, the chief ministers of Sabah and Sarawak, senior officials from the Federal Government, and the Sarawak and Sabah governments.
The first meeting was held on Dec 17, last year, and was tasked to resolve 21 issues between three parties.
Of these, 13 are joint issues involving Sabah and Sarawak and eight more are specific to Sabah.
The issues, which were resolved in the meeting between the three parties, were:
- On Sabah’s claim to export duties for logs and forest products. The federal and state governments were agreeable that the matter had been resolved as authority on the matter was delegated to the Sabah Forestry Department since June 2017.
- The Federal Government agrees to hand over regulation of gas distribution in Sarawak to the state in accordance with the state’s Distribution of Gas Ordinance 2016, while in Sabah it will be handed over after due diligence on the matter is conducted:
- Sabah and Sarawak also agreed to form a committee to boost collaboration on federal funded public works.
- On labour supply, the Federal Government said it had no objection to handing over authority to Sabah and Sarawak through a subsidiary legislation of “labour conditions peculiar to the state” under respective states labour ordinance;
- On health issues, the Federal Government and both states agreed to form a special management committee which will have discussions periodically on the issue.
- The Federal Government agreed to hand over the Sipadan and Ligitan islands, especially in tourism matters, to the Sabah government; and,
- Agriculture and forestry issues were dropped during the meeting, as both issues are already listed under state Taskforce MA63 list, whose final report will be presented at the next meeting.
The negotiations are in line with pledges made in Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto in the 14th General Election campaign promising to review the implementation of the Malaysian Agreement 1963.
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