No Need To Establish Special Ministry For Sabah, Sarawak – Armizan

KUALA LUMPUR:  There is no need to create a special ministry to handle Sabah and Sarawak affairs to avoid the possibility of overlapping functions with existing federal ministries.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Duties) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the Sabah and Sarawak Affairs Division (BHESS) under the Prime Minister’s Department was established in March 2020 to facilitate and address all issues pertaining to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“So for me, there shouldn’t be overlapping functions. Let the BHESS functions as the secretariat so that we can propose negotiations between the Federal and the Sabah and Sarawak governments without having to interfere with ministerial functions in each ministry.
“I think we need to maintain the commitment to empowerment and devolution of authority (to Sabah and Sarawak) without having to establish a special ministry in charge of Sabah and Sarawak affairs.
“In doing so, we want to avoid overlapping functions with federal ministries which would ultimately affect the efforts to devolve powers to the Sabah and Sarawak governments,” he said during Minister’s Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat today.
— BERNAMA