KUCHING: Besides fighting hard for Sarawak’s rights to be returned, one of the most important issues that Sarawak should address immediately is the need to have good governance, said Bandar Kuching Member of Parliament Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen.
“Even if more rights are given back to Sarawak but if there was no anti-corruption measures in place then more money from our wealth will go into the pockets of the elites and those in power,” said Yii when met by Bernama on the sidelines of the International Conference on Sarawak and ASEAN, here yesterday. Yii was one of the speakers in the first session of the conference titled “The New Sarawak In A New Malaysia – What Lies Ahead?’.
Bernama chairman Datuk Seri Azman Ujang was the moderator. For the wealth of Sarawak to be equitably safe, Yii pointed out that anti-corruption measures and good governance have to be in place and come hand-in-hand with the return of Sarawak’s rights as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63). Comment ing on the criticisms with regards to the composition of representatives from Sarawak in the steering committee to restore the rights of Sabah and Sarawak as enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), Yii said everyone should be looking at Sabah and Sarawak as one block. There are three committees involved – the steering committee, technical committee and the working committee on the MA63. Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg has expressed his concern over the lack of balance in the composition of members sitting in the (steering) committee. “The current criticism is mainly on the steering committee because there are only three representatives from Sarawak in the committee but I feel that we should look Sabah and Sarawak as one block,” he said.
“Those eight representatives from Peninsular Malaysia are cabinet ministers and the reason why they are there is because decisions made will affect the different ministries and those ministers need to be there to make the necessary adjustments based on what is discussed,” said Yii. Hence, Yii said he does not agree that it was a conspiracy and ploy by the federal government to outnumber Sarawakians and Sabahans, but more on the technicality of running of the steering committee. “We look at ourselves (Sabah and Sarawak) as one block and that we have equal negotiating roles and we look at Sabah as our partner because I don’t think Sabah wants their rights to be taken away as well.
“I feel it is a good start because for the first time there is by-partisan discussion where the GPS government in Sarawak is represented and also the federal Pakatan Harapan government and not just politicians discussing but also academicians, civil servants who can provide input,” he added. Yii said that even Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said he wanted to restore Sabah and Sarawak’s status by amending Article 1(2) of Federal Constitution.
“Of course we need the two thirds majority but that is not the only step we are going to take in terms of Article 1(2),” he said, adding that a lot of subsequent amendments is needed in different legislations. On the national budget to be tabled in Parliament tomorrow, Yii said he spoke to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday, who assured him that the development allocation for Sabah and Sarawak is not exactly 30 percent but very close to 30 percent. Yii regarded it as a good start by the PH government in terms of giving more priority to Sabah and Sarawak to correct the unequal development that the two states had over these years.-Bernama
