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KUCHING, Sept 7: Sarawak’s generosity to accommodate her Malaya partners could have been interpreted as naïveté in light of a former minister’s “big brother” attitude.
Habitat for Indigenous and Urban Programme (Hidup) chairman George Young Si Ricord Junior opined Sarawak has consistently displayed remarkable generosity in accommodating her Malayan partners.
“In the light of (Dato Mohd) Zaid Ibrahim’s remarks, it could be that our generosity has been interpreted as naivete. It is evident that this type of “big brother” attitude has been pervasive, while the unequal distribution of resources is plain to see.
“Now that Malaya has developed extensively, with infrastructure to be envied by third world countries, with two of the highest skyscrapers in the world, in the form of the Petronas Twin Towers & Merdeka 118 and numerous highways crisscrossing the peninsula, the time for Sarawak to sacrifice is surely over, and it is time to help ourselves,” said George in response to the former law minister’s post tweet on Aug 23 on social media platform X.
Zaid had challenged Malaya leaders to engage Sarawak on the State’s claim on six oil wells found off Sarawak’s coast.
He dared them to do so and called on them not to sleep and let Sarawak “get away with this latest claim, citing the Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA74) and Territorial Sea Act 2012 (TSA2012).
To this, George said as the Sarawak government has come to an agreement with Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS)through a Commercial Arrangement Agreement in 2020 to ensure a “diplomatic” and friendly approach to the re-distribution of Sarawak’s resources, it is imperative that Malaya is made to respect the law and maintain a clear legal understanding of Sarawak’s status as equal partner in Malaysia.
“I would encourage Dato’ Idris Buang to go beyond verbal reminders and obtained the State government’s approval to seek the intervention of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a formal declaration of Sarawak’s rights.
“This step needs to be taken now to prevent any further the development of misunderstandings, deliberate or otherwise calculated to obfuscate the status of Sarawak,” said George who expressed support for Idris’ statement regarding Sarawak’s rights over its natural resources yesterday.
Young said when the British left, they had ensured that Sarawak’s sovereignty over these interests were safeguarded by legal agreements, including the recommendation in the Inter-Governmental Committee report which had led to Malaysia Agreement 1963 and provisions in the Federal Constitution.
“In short, the PDA74 was never intended to compromise Sarawak’s sovereignty,” said George.
He asserted that the decision to join Malaya to form Malaysia, was a pragmatic decision made for the greater good of Malaysia, “all made possible by the bitter sacrifices of Sarawak”. — DayakDaily
