KUCHING, Aug 27: Sarawak People’s Aspiration Party (Aspirasi) wants newly-minted Parliament and Law Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar to make his first move to exempt Sarawak from the Petroleum Development Act 1974 and Territorial Sea Act 2012.
Aspirasi president Lina Soo said this could be done by adding the clause “This Act does not apply to Sarawak” in both Acts. To her, once that were to be done, Sarawak will get back all ownership and economic rights over its oil and gas up to 200 nautical miles.
“Every single fish shall belong to Sarawak and our Sarawak fishermen don’t need to apply to the federal government for deep sea fishing permits,” said Soo in a statement today.
Next, she opined that Wan Junaidi needed to repeal A354 Section 2 which, if successful, Sarawak will get its political status back as a Borneo nation in the Federation of Malaysia, and would no longer be one of the 13 states.
“Junaidi also needs to increase parliamentary representation for Sarawak and Sabah to more than one-third so that the states of Malaysia shall hold less than two-thirds of the parliamentary seats and cannot pass federal laws to the disadvantage of the Borneo nations,” said Soo.
Aspirasi posed the three challenges to Wan Junaidi since the Santubong MP now has the power to redress the grievances of Sarawakians over the loss of their rights and powers in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Meanwhile, for Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, Soo said Sarawakians wanted to see the Pan Borneo Highway cease to be a pain but a blessing to allow Sarawakians to travel in search for livelihood.
“Please do it before the next general election,” said Soo.
For Deputy Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Hanifah Taib who is in charge of Sabah and Sarawak Affairs, Soo said all documents related to matters concerning Sarawak in MA63 discussions should be available to the public.
“We do not want to be told that any matter concerning Sarawak in the MA63 discussions is under the Official Secrets Act. Enough is enough.”
Meanwhile, she said Deputy Health Minister Datuk Aaron Ago Dagang must come out of hiding and show Sarawakians what he can do to alleviate the worsening Covid-19 situation in Sarawak.
She said since his appointment as deputy health minister in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration, he has been MIA (missing in action) and it is shocking that despite having a deputy health minister from Sarawak, the State is still suffering from being one of the states with the highest Covid-19 cases.
“We urge our Sarawak federal ministers to listen to the voices of our long suffering Sarawakians and carry out their duties and responsibilities when they have been given the power and capacity to do so,” said Soo. — DayakDaily
