Cabinet ministers' memorandum on Sabah, Sarawak's demands to be tabled next month

KOTA KINABALU - The Cabinet Ministers' Memorandum on Sabah and Sarawak's demands, particularly concerning the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), will be tabled early next month (January), said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Sabah,Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali.

He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the Cabinet meeting on Dec 4, had given Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof and himself a period of one month to receive comments and feedback on the matter from all parties concerned.

He added that the process to get feedback from the Sabah and Sarawak governments, as well as other ministries and government agencies are ongoing before preparing the memorandum and submitting it to the Cabinet.

"One of the things this can do is to ensure that claims and applications submitted by the two state governments can be dealt with by the federal government... there are already matters (claims) that are enshrined in the Federal Constitution and we need to implement them fully.

"At the same time, our basis (demands) is also based on MA63 itself and the IGC (Inter-Governmental Committee)," he told a press conference after a meeting with Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor at Menara Kinabalu here today.

Armizan, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Papar, said the main comments and responses so far have been on financial and economic matters, as well as the return of 40 per cent of the revenue collected by the federal government in Sabah to the state.

He said the implementation of Sabah and Sarawak's demands required the cooperation of all ministries as they were matters under the purview of the respective ministries, including the economy, legislation, agriculture, and human resources.

"The matters that are being pursued involves various ministries, and it is my responsibility to coordinate them to ensure that they (demands) are implemented well... Let the relevant ministers give the details of the matters agreed upon by their respective ministries," he said.

He said MA63 does not only belong to the people of Sabah and Sarawak, it belongs to all Malaysians so that all Malaysians can work together to move the country forward under the umbrella of the federation called Malaysia. - BERNAMA