By Anasathia Jenis
\nKUALA LUMPUR:\u00a0Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof assured that the\u00a0issues related to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) will be resolved in a collaborative\u00a0and inclusive manner to benefit both\u00a0Sabah and Sarawak.
\nHe said although he is\u00a0from Sarawak, it does not mean that the resolution would be to the state\u2019s advantage.
\n“I am deputy prime minister not only for Sarawak but for all.
\n\u201cThe MA63 committee also\u00a0consists of an implementation action council led by the Prime Minister\u00a0(Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) and its members include Sarawak Premier (Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg) and the Chief Minister of Sabah (Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor),” he told Bernama in a interview recently.
\nFadillah who is responsible in ensuring that the outstanding issues concerning the MA63 are resolved, said the implementation of Sabah and Sarawak\u2019s demands which were different,\u00a0also involve agencies from the federal and state governments.
\nThe two states have different backgrounds,\u00a0the laws in the both states are different …that\u2019s why\u00a0 the outcome of the implementation will not depend on the (existing leader\u2019s) position as this has to do with the state\u2019s background and as such, Sarawak\u2019s demand could be resolved much earlier than Sabah,” he said.
\nExplaining on matters in MA63 that have yet to be implemented even though the agreement was signed in 1963 by Malaya (now Peninsular Malaysia), Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore (which later left Malaysia in 1965), Fadillah said it involved an annex that contained findings and recommendations by the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC).
\n“There were\u00a0recommendations that should have\u00a0been followed with the formation of Malaysia,\u00a0that’s what Sarawak and Sabah are demanding\u00a0to be implemented.\u00a0There were also\u00a0matters that were ignored and which should be under the jurisdiction of Sabah and Sarawak, for example those under the Continental Shelf Act.<\/p>\n
“If we look at the border for Sarawak, it used to be 200 km, the definition of the continental shelf includes the land beneath, which means that all the\u00a0oil and gas are rightfully Sarawak\u2019s, but when there was\u00a0an emergency, the power to make\u00a0laws came under the federal government,” he said.
\nAdmitting that his appointment to bear the responsibility is a start for national integration,\u00a0Fadillah added that\u00a0it is also a way forward.
\n“It is a blessing in disguise… the current political situation and the bigger demands from Sabah and Sarawak for inclusiveness, so this could be the way\u00a0forward. And that’s why I think the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah had actually yearned for unity, and power sharing was\u00a0one way of achieving\u00a0it.
\n“With power sharing, maybe the understanding of the inspiration for\u00a0the formation of Malaysia can be translated, not only in the political context but also in all aspects including positions in the government,\u00a0 sharing economy, the wealth of the nation, in terms of equality and togetherness in socioeconomic development,” he said.
\nMeanwhile,\u00a0Fadillah\u00a0who is also Plantation and Commodities Minister said he was pleased\u00a0that Al-Sultan Abdullah plans to drive along the Pan Borneo Highway in\u00a0September in conjunction with Malaysia Day celebrations, starting from Telok Melano, Sarawak towards Sabah via Brunei.
\n\u201cBy expressing this desire, it shows His Majesty\u2019s concern for the people amid the political crises going on in the\u00a0country.
\n“During his term as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, various political crises occurred but His Majesty was able to resolve them, find a way out to ensure political stability and now he wishes to go on a tour of the (Pan Borneo) highway,” he said.
\nOn Feb 13,\u00a0Al-Sultan Abdullah,\u00a0in his royal address when opening the second session of the 15th Parliament\u00a0expressed his desire to drive along the highway.
\nCommenting on the construction of the highway, the former Senior Works Minister\u00a0hoped that Sarawak and Sabah portions of\u00a0phase one\u00a0of the\u00a0Pan Borneo Highway\u00a0project would reach its 98 per cent and 70 per cent completion, respectively, by September.
\n\u201cThere are two portions one of which is in Bukit Begunan Sri Aman, Sarawak, that could not be completed due to\u00a0utility transfer and land movement issues that require\u00a0new engineering work,\u201d he explained.
\n—\u00a0BERNAMA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Anasathia Jenis KUALA LUMPUR:\u00a0Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof assured that the\u00a0issues related to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) will be resolved in a collaborative\u00a0and inclusive manner to benefit both\u00a0Sabah and Sarawak. He said although he is\u00a0from Sarawak, it does not mean that the resolution would be to the state\u2019s advantage. “I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":18767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18766","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nation-news"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18766"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18768,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18766\/revisions\/18768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jesseltontimes.com\/wpmarch2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}