Sabah supports the proposed Federal Constitution amendment Bill to comply with MA63

KOTA KINABALU: The proposed Bill to amend the Federal Constitution to be in line with the provisions of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) was the result of persistence on the part of Sabah and Sarawak.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said he and his Sarawak counterpart have submitted the states’ demands at the MA63 Special Council chaired by the Prime Minister himself.
“So, the Bill to amend the Federal Constitution is actually a product of the MA63 Special Council decision that took into account the requests from both Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
“The Sabah Government sees the formation of the MA63 Special Council as a crucial phase and a manifestation of the government-of-the-day’s readiness to resolve issues that have been agreed before this,” he said.
Speaking at the briefing on the MA63 Special Council for the Sabah State Assemblymen at the State Legislative Assembly mini auditorium near here today, he said a technical committee chaired by Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun had also been set up to negotiate for more share of revenue in the oil and gas sector from Petronas.
He said he himself had personally met with the president/CEO of Petronas to discuss the Commercial Cooperation Agreement (CCA), which he said would be inked soon.
“Through the CCA, Sabah will have greater revenue sharing as well as greater participation and say in our oil and gas matters,” he said.
The special briefing aimed at providing an insight to the elected representatives on the latest development of the Sabah and Sarawak State Governments’ demands that have been submitted to the Federal Government through the MA63 Special Council.
Present were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Maximus Ongkili and Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dato Sri Dr Haji Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (Parliament and Law).
During the briefing, Hajiji also witnessed the handing over of power to issue deep-sea fishing license to the State Government from Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee to Sabah Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.