SARAWAK will continue being vocal in demanding the return of lost and eroded rights, and that Putrajaya respects the Malaysia Agreement, said Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg today.

He reminded the federal government that even though Sarawak was part of Malaysia, it did not mean the state would keep silent on the matter.

The rights were agreed upon prior to the state agreeing to the formation of Malaysia.

Sarawak, since 2014 under former chief minister the late Adenan Satem, has been assertive in demanding the return of control in matters like oil and gas, education, healthcare and tourism, among others.

Last month, Abang Johari despatched a legal team, headed by Assistant Minister for Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Sharifah Hasidah Syeed Aman Ghazali, to London to search for declassified documents in the British historical archives relating to the state.

Sharifah Hasidah said the team found documents to support the state’s claim that the Continental Shelf Act 1966, which reduced the state’s sea boundary from 12 miles to three, was illegal.

She said the documents “confirmed the ownership rights of the state to the natural resources in the seabeds and subsoils in the continental shelf within the boundaries of the state”.

In addressing the National Day rally in the oil and gas town of Bintulu in northern Sarawak, Abang Johari said the state would continue negotiating on the issue, and doing so would not undermine the sovereignty of the country.

”We support a strong central government and we want the state-federal relationship to be close and cordial.”

He said the state would always discuss with the federal government in a ”friendly and family-like atmosphere” to resolve issues and come up with amicable solutions.

Today is not Independence Day in Sarawak, but in solidarity with its partners in the formation of Malaysia – Sabah and Malaya – which are celebrating independece today, the state has marked the occassion with a National Day rally. – August 31, 2017.