KUCHING: Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah is adamant that issues like the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) must be addressed in order to prevent Sarawak from further falling behind.
The Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice president noted that Sarawak’s development has not kept pace with Peninsular Malaysia despite 60 years of independence.
He stated that Sarawak and Sabah joined Malaysia; nevertheless, Malaysia was actually founded in 1963 as a result of the union of these two regions with Malaya and Singapore.
“All this time, our friends in Peninsular have benefited from all forms of development. Do they feel that is still lacking?” he said in a posting on his Facebook today (Jan 26).
His remarks came after a well-known Peninsular based lawyer, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, recently questioned why the unity government focused on Sarawak and Sabah, especially the “income sharing” matter, while it was not implemented for the states in the peninsula.
In touching on the issues concerning Sabah and Sarawak, Zaid also urged that a special committee be formed to study the interests of the states in the peninsula.
Abdul Karim asserted that Zaid could observe for himself how inadequate the infrastructure is in Sabah and Sarawak, including the numerous substandard schools that are still present as well as the roads and rural clinics.
Zaid was said to be alluding to the recent announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on the special allocation given to Sarawak pursuant to Article 112D of the Federal Constitution, now increased to RM300 million per year from the RM16 million previously received.
In order to ensure that Sarawak and Sabah receive the proper allocations moving forward, Anwar had argued that the sum was granted as a first step to resolve issues in compliance with Article 112D before the original formula was detailed and simplified once more.
“I think that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, a political figure who has faced numerous challenges throughout his career, has a good sense of how the Peninsular, Sabah, and Sarawak’s people are doing.
“Datuk Zaid also disputed the Sabah Chief Minister’s rejection of the enforcement of the Regional Sea Act 2012 (Act 750), which limits the state’s maritime boundaries to only three nautical miles (5.5 kilometres) from the coast.
“According to him, Kelantan cannot ask for oil money, courtesy money, or even royalties because the federal government sees the state as only entitled to any natural resources found in the three nautical mile waters.
“The MA63 was signed by representatives of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak rather than the other states. Because of this, Sabah and Sarawak’s rights are superior to those of other states according to the Malaysian Constitution.
“Therefore, the question of why Sabah and Sarawak requested more than 200 nautical miles but Kelantan only received three nautical miles need not be brought up,” said Abdul Karim.
As such, Abdul Karim, who is also Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Minister, stressed that there is no fair deal as Zaid said.
