KUCHING: All Sarawakians must rally behind Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg in voicing out the desire to be treated fairly and truly as partners as subscribed in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
Meradong assemblyman Datuk Ding Kuong Hiing said this when commenting on the chief minister’s recent statement that the federal government must emphasise the development of Sarawak and Sabah on a region-to-region basis rather than the current state-to-state basis.
“I think it is high time we make our feelings known to our federal counterparts,” said the Sarawak United People’s Party Education Bureau chairman on Thursday (Sept 30).
He said that any financial allocations, be it with regard to infrastructure or economic developments, must be on a region-to-region basis between the Malaya region, Sarawak region, and Sabah region.
“The old approach of state-to-state allocation basis had resulted in us having the raw end of the deal for so long.”
To make matters worse, he pointed out, Sarawak has been and still is a significant contributor to the nation’s wealth.
“We are only asking for what is rightfully ours; nothing more and nothing less.”
Earlier on Wednesday (Sept 29), Abang Johari also said that Sarawak and Sabah’s economic structure was different from that of Malaya, which is dependent on both states’ unique resources.
“That is why we are of the view that we have to follow MA63 (in development approach), as it has to be according to three regions — Sarawak, Sabah, and Malaya.”
