By Karen Bong
KUCHING, March 12: Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah welcomes the discussion on the review of a special grant for Sarawak which will take place between the Sarawak government and Ministry of Finance soon.
He said that this was good news, especially for the people of Sarawak.
This came after Sabah is reported to be getting nearly a five-fold increase in annual grants following the outcome reached during a Joint Consultative Committee meeting on the review of annual grants under Section 112D of the Federal Constitution by both the Federal and Sabah State Finance Ministry.
Abdul Karim also agrees with Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah and Sarawak Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili that this move is part of the effort to restore and respect the rights of Sarawak and Sabah as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
During the current parliamentary sitting session, Ongkili said a special council meeting on March 14 to discuss the matters including that of land as well as representation of power for environmental and human resource.
“Sarawak and our neighbour Sabah are also authorised to issue deep sea fishing licences on Oct 18 following the MKMA63 (Special Council on MA63) meeting chaired by the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob) where the details are expected to be finalised by next month.
“At the same time, we also welcome the handover of power in the distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Sarawak which already took place on June 1 last year, after it was agreed during MKMA63, led by former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin,” he said in a post on social media yesterday.
Abdul Karim, who is also Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development, emphasised that Sarawak together with Sabah will benefit from the amendments to Article 1(2) and Article 160(2) of the Federal Constitution, which was unanimously passed in the Dewan Rakyat on Dec 14 last year.
“We will always support the continuous efforts (on achieving) the important and historic resolutions on constitutional amendments to Articles 1(2) and 160(2) relating to the equal status of Sabah and Sarawak, to redefine ‘federation’, and institutionalise September 16 as Day Malaysia,” he said.
Sarawak, he added, will always look forward to more meetings and discussions which will continue throughout the year to resolve pressing issues and ensure the rights and demands of the people of Sarawak and Sabah are met. — DayakDaily
