KUCHING: The first meeting of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Technical Committee is expected to convene in mid-April.
In announcing this, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said that a task force at the officer level, comprising representatives from Sabah, Sarawak, and the federal government, has been tasked with preparing a Cabinet Paper addressing education and health issues within a two-week period.
“The Cabinet Paper will be prepared within two weeks to finalise the related methods regarding the concerned issues.
“After the preparation, we will hold the first meeting of the MA63 Technical Committee after the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration,” he said.
He said this when met by reporters after attending the Duit Raya Contribution Ceremony at the Kampung Pinang Jawa Multipurpose Hall here today (Mar 31).
Meanwhile, Fadillah also said that discussions among the representatives level in Sarawak have been completed.
“From the discussion, we have identify the powers that can be given back to the state government for management, including education and health matters,
“Meanwhile, Sabah is still at the negotiation stage. Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan also requested that anything agreed upon by the Sarawak and federal government might serve as an example for them to conclude the discussions,” he said.
On a related note, Fadillah also informed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s visit yesterday also included a special briefing on the following issues.
He said that several matters had been agreed upon in principle for implementation, but there were constraints from the federal government in terms of financial allocations.
“For example, if the state government needs funding for Sarawak to establish its own cancer centre, the state government will provide the funds first to build it.
“Then, the federal government will finance the related costs in the future through negotiation in principle, that’s the method,” he said.
