KUCHING, August 18: Sarawak for Sarawakians (S4S) has demanded the Sarawak government reclaim full autonomy for the state as stipulated in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) within six months.
The civil movement also proposed 10 recommendations to the state government to facilitate securing full autonomy. These recommendations were unveiled today under its manifesto `Sarawak exploring interest towards tomorrow’.
The timeframe to materialise these recommendations is also same — six months.
Copies of these recommendations have been sent to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing, Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian and Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah. All other state assemblypersons will get email copies of it.
Its spokesperson, Tan Kok Chiang, warned that if the state government failed to secure full autonomy from Putrajaya within the given deadline, S4S would mount a drastic action plan — get Sarawak out of the Federation of Malaysia.
In addition, he said S4S would contest in the next state election, which must be called by 2021.
“Failure for the Sarawak government to do that, we will take part in the election, where we believe most Sarawakians will agree with our demands,” said Tan in a press conference at a hotel here today.
On the 10 recommendations, the first one is for the Sarawak Legislative Assembly to establish a Sarawak Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Recommendation No 2 is for the state government to exercise its powers under the Oil Mining Ordinance 1958 and shut down all companies that violate this legislation by Dec 31, 2018.
Under the third recommendation, S4S demands that the state government reduces electricity tariffs, while reinstating local council elections constitutes the fourth recommendation. Fifth in the list is the setting up of a Sarawak Central Bank.
The sixth recommendation calls for Sarawak to enforce a passport system for all individuals other than Sarawakians.
Under the seventh recommendation, S4S proposed the setting up of a loan scheme for top students in the state. These loan recipients must serve the state government upon their graduation.
Recommendation No 8 is to set up a team to conduct roadshows across the state to educate the public about the MA63.
Denouncing Aug 31 and celebrate July 22 as Sarawak’s Independence Day and Sept 16 as Malaysia Day constitutes the ninth recommendation.
The last recommendation is for the state government to take over MasWing and turn it into a Hornbill Skyways subsidiary. — DayakDaily
