KUCHING, March 7: Solidarity Anak Sarawak (SAS) founder Peter John Jaban is questioning the outcome of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Steering Committee meeting on Tuesday after Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad remarked that there was “little disagreement” between the federal government and the Sarawak and Sabah governments.
Peter said so far there had been no clear information surfacing about the substance of the meeting.
He said according to the MA63, Sarawak and Sabah are two of three territories and not one of 13 states.
With such a stand by the federal government, he opined that the status of Sarawak and Sabah as equal partners should be returned and Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution should be amended to reflect the original wording, where the Federation States are Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu, while the Borneo States are Sabah and Sarawak.
“The Petroleum Development Act 1074 (PDA) and Territorial Sea Act 2012 (TSA) are also invalid because they contravened provision 1(3) of the Federal Constitution.
“It is very clear that waters where the oil and gas are found are inside Sarawak and Sabah’s territories and, therefore, should belong to the two Borneo states. This means Sarawak and Sabah have the right to take back all the oil and gas wells in our waters,” he reasoned in a statement today.
Peter said the Parliament that gave powers to the federal government such as the Continental Shelf Act 1966 and Petroleum Mining Act 1966 (revised 1972), which existed during the emergency times, had been automatically nullified when the Emergency Declaration on May 15, 1969, was voided by the Dewan Rakyat on Nov 14, 2011, and by the Dewan Negara on Dec 20, 2011.
“The Special Cabinet Committee should discuss and resolve the issues of ownership and power over oil and gas in Borneo States waters according to Article 1(3) of the Federal Constitution and Articles 49(1), (2),” he demanded.
On Tuesday, Dr Mahathir, who chaired the Special Committee to Review the MA63, said most of the working papers had been referred to the Technical Committee for further study.
Dr Mahathir was also quoted saying that there was little disagreement between the federal government and Sarawak and Sabah governments. — DayakDaily
