AFTER an almost two-year delay, the relocation of Sabah’s historic Keningau oath stone will begin this April, said the Tourism and Culture Ministry.

The relocation plan was set in motion in February 2016 by Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz, who on May 3, 2017 announced a RM1 million allocation, plus an additional RM25,000 to conduct the relocation ritual.

The ministry in a statement today said the design of the new site of the oath stone is being finalised.

“Work to relocate the ‘Oath Stone’ will be carried out in April after the new site is cleared and ready. This project is expected to be completed early next year,” it said.

Plans to move the oath stone to a permanent site came amid quarrel among Sabah political leaders over alleged tampering of the sacred item.

It is the only historic piece of document set in stone demanding the federal government to honour its pledges in return for the loyalty of Sabah’s interior indigenous people towards the federation of Malaysia.

The list of demands includes “freedom of religion, the Sabah Government holds authority over land in the state, and native customs and traditions will be respected and upheld by the government.”

Several politicians said the original oath stone had been “mischievously” replaced with a new one, with some of the original inscriptions omitted.

The original words that went missing are “Government of Malaysia Guarantees”.

The leaders also said the stone had been removed from its original place during a road-widening work in the 1980s.

The original plaque was believed found by a former district council worker near his home in Keningau in 2015. He handed it to Parti Solidarity Tanah Airku (STAR) Bingkor assemblyman Dr Jeffrey Kitingan who later gave it to the police for safekeeping.

In 2016, Nazri on a visit to Keningau also ordered the missing words to be reinstated and that the stone to be proclaimed as a national heritage. – March 5, 2018.