By Christopher Lidom
KUCHING, June 9: Education and healthcare matters for Sarawak and Sabah under Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63) will be endorsed in the next meeting with Prime Minister Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, says Deputy Prime Minister Dato Sri Fadillah Yusof.
He said anything that has been agreed upon during the State-level technical committee recently will be brought to a council chaired by the Prime Minister for endorsement, including to resolve matters which have yet to be agreed upon.
“There are a few things that involve differences in the interpretation of legislation at the federal and State levels where it needs further deliberation to determine its direction.
“The final result from the council will be brought to the cabinet to be determined whatever the various interpretations can be decided on policy basis,” he told reporters when met after attending the ‘Duan Wu Jie’ Dragon Boat Festival celebration held at Surau Al-Ansar in Matang today.
Apart from that, Fadillah said other interpretations that overlapped involved continental shelf rights.
He said that Sarawak has its own continental shelf border which has existed since before the formation of Malaysia.
According to him, with the introduction of Territorial Sea Act by the federal government, it limits Sarawak’s continental shelf border.
“Other than that is the interpretation in the jurisdiction itself is due to other legislation. I can’t explain in detail because it involves a lot of technical things, and will cause confusion.
“So it’s best that we ‘agree to disagree’ first before it is presented before the high council of Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah,” he added.
Meanwhile, addressing the progress of negotiation over stamp duty for land sales between Sarawak and the federal government, Fadillah said both sides has yet to come to an agreement on the matter.
“In Sarawak’s interpretation, the land is under the jurisdiction of the State. However, taxes are under the jurisdiction of the federal government. So that is another different interpretation that also needs to be resolved,” he said. — DayakDaily
