SARAWAK Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg said the state is still pursuing the return of the state’s rights and full compliance to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

Responding to accusations that the state government had cooled its pursuit of rights under the MA63 with Putrajaya, Abang Johari said Sarawak is still actively looking into areas that have yet to be settled with the federal government.

They include four issues left unresolved by the Special Cabinet Committee on MA63 that was formed by the previous Pakatan Harapan government.

They are oil royalties and cash payments for petroleum, as well as minerals and oilfields, and the controversial Continental Sea Act, which not only reduces Sarawak’s sea boundary to a mere 4.8km from shore but also violates the terms of MA63.

Sarawakians have long claimed that the law was designed for the federal government to lay its hands on its oil and gas reserves further out at sea.

Abang Johari, who was speaking at a press conference after a working visit to Kg Telok Melano in Sematan, about 100km from Kuching, assured that he will consult the state assembly’s consultative committee on the outstanding matters.

The special cabinet committee on MA63 has been disbanded and will be replaced by a Special Council to Review Implementation on MA63, to be chaired by the prime minister and includes the chief ministers of Sarawak and Sabah.

It will also include ministers and representatives of the federal, Sabah and Sarawak governments. – August 13, 2020.