By Nigel Edgar
KUCHING, Jan 19: Assistant Minister of Native Land Development Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn today cries foul over a statement by DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) Sarawak publicity secretary Abdul Aziz Isa, saying it was the latter who is betraying the state.
He explained that it was not so much the letter of the law in the Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA) that has taken away Sarawak’s rights, but rather it was the executive’s action that had caused great losses to Sarawak.
“As Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was in the Federal Cabinet in 1974, later becoming the Prime Minister for many years after that, he made full use of his executive power without correcting the imbalance of development between Sarawak and Malaya in spite of the fact that Sarawak is the largest contributor to the Malaysian oil and gas revenue,” said Sagah, who is also Tarat assemblyman.
He was responding to Abdul Aziz’s statement yesterday, where he blamed Sarawak leaders for betraying the state’s oil and gas right by agreeing to it in Parliament in 1974.
Sagah denied stating that Dr Mahathir introduced the PDA, let alone the Territorial Sea Act (TSA) 2012. He said at best, it was just a figment of Abdul Aziz’s own imagination and an attempt at hoodwinking the public from the real issues.
“When I spoke at the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) Flag Rally in Siburan, I was referring to the opposition’s statement of always mentioning GPS as “old wine in a new wine bottle” and connecting GPS to BN. I then asked who are the PH leaders? Were they not mostly Umno and BN leaders before?
“GPS has a new direction and policies to fight for and defend the rights of Sarawakians based on the provisions of the Federal and State Constitutions, the law, and of course, the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
“These Sarawakian rights and powers have been eroded through the years. GPS is vintage wine. Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN), on the other hand, are stale wine that has no agenda to help Sarawak. These PH leaders are mere rhetoric,” he said.
Sagah continued: “Then, I went on to say that as far as I am concerned, the PDA and TSA is ultra vires the Constitutions as they have never been tabled in the State Assembly.”
He said it was the PDA that had taken much of Sarawak’s resources without giving much back for the development of Sarawak. As such, he said GPS intended to move forward to reclaim its rights.
“These were the only content of my short speech at the GPS Flag Rally in Siburan as the group were to move on to Bau.
“Having read Abdul Aziz’s statement, it is clear that he is not fighting for or defending Sarawak’s rights and interests but that of Malaya,” said Sagah. — DayakDaily
