High time for Sarawak to be politically independent, says CM
KUCHING: It is high time for Sarawak to be politically independent to stand up for its rights and pursue its development priorities, says the Chief Minister.
Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said Sarawak could not be subservient to “Big Brother” anymore in deciding its development direction as the state would always lose out because of the need to make decisions based on consensus.
“This is the reason we left Barisan Nasional and decided to be on our own,” he said at the Gawai-Hari Raya dinner with 700 members of Sarawak’s NGOs based in the Klang Valley at a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur on Monday night.
The NGOs included Hikmah, Federal Territory branch, Song Kapit Welfare Association, Dayak Transformation Association, Pasar Borneo Sri Kembangan Traders Association, Sarawak Diaspora Network Association, Borneo Semenanjung Association and Serian Foundation, Kuala Lumpur branch.
He said it was time for Sarawak to stand on its own feet and decide its priorities based on its needs.
Abang Johari believed that so far, the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) government had managed the state well, and the recent decision by the federal government to work with it through a joint committee to ensure effective implementation of projects spoke volumes of the state’s ability to administer itself.
He said the state’s priority was to develop its infrastructure, physical and cyber, in order to enhance its connectivity and to spread development statewide, particularly to the interior.
“Out of the record budget of RM11 billion for 2019, RM7 bln was allocated for implementation of infrastructure and economic projects in rural areas,” he pointed out.
Abang Johari said implementation of the coastal highway and the setting-up of agencies under Recoda, namely the Upper Rejang Development Agency, the Highland Development Agency and the Northern Region Development Agency, were part of the overall effort to enhance Sarawak’s connectivity and economic status.
“Even though the federal government is under Pakatan Harapan and Sarawak under GPS, we are working together, and we formed a joint committee to monitor federal project implementation in Sarawak under the joint chair of the Federal Works Minister Baru Bian and Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
“Thus they (federal government) have to take into consideration our priorities,” he stressed.
On the development of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) negotiations, he described the progress as going on well.
He said Sarawak had insisted that “pursuant to MA63” be inserted in the recent attempt to amend Article 1(2) of the Federal Constitution to ensure that Sarawak would not lose its rights.
“Article 60 defined the states of the federation as being the states established under the Federation of Malaya Agreement 1957 and thus might make MA63 irrelevant in the court of law,” he pointed out.
