KUCHING: Bigger news await Sarawakians as the term ‘wilayah’ (region) marks only the first step for Sarawak in its struggle to demand for rights enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Senior Minister of Works Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said under the MA63, the Borneo states namely Sarawak and Sabah (formerly known as North Borneo) were equal partners to the Federation of Malaya in the formation of Malaysia.
Hence, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) federal government is currently scrutinising proposed amendments to the federal constitution which interpreted Sabah and Sarawak as states of the federation alongside other states in Semenanjung Malaysia.
“The term ‘wilayah’ is an initial step so that we can picture that in MA63 which is recognised by the incumbent Prime Minister, there are wilayah Sabah, wilayah Sarawak and wilayah Semenanjung Malaysia.
“Therefore, Sarawakians should be happy with this early sign. InsyaAllah after this, there will be bigger news for us,” he said.
He told this to reporters after officiating at the 13th annual general meeting of Ex-Police Association Petra Jaya Branch held at Dewan Kampung Malaysia Jaya here today.
The ‘wilayah’ term was first brought into the limelight after the Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin openly used it to refer to Sabah and Sarawak during his visit to both regions recently.
Fadillah who is also the Petra Jaya MP mentioned that the federal government had set up the MA63 Special Council chaired by the Prime Minister and consisted of the Chief Ministers of Sarawak and Sabah.
Under the Council are three working committees namely, Partners Working Committee, Sabah and Sarawak Security Working Committee and the Socio-Economic Working Committee.
“The Partners Working Committee will look into recommending the amendments to the federal constitution.
“And in the proposed amendment, we will do it thoroughly and holistically, unlike the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government which proposed half-baked amendment,” he said.
During the event, Fadillah announced a minor rural project allocation of RM10,000 to the association.
Present were the association’s branch chief Abang Narawi Abang Haris and Sarawak Alumni Police Association (SAPA) president Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai.
