S4S: Sarawak should control its own resources

Sarawak 4 Sarawakians says the group will be sending a memorandum asking the British government to ensure Putrajaya abides by the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

Sarawak 4 Sarawakians (S4S) says the state should be given more rights to its resources as stipulated in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

The group’s spokesperson, Fong Pau Teck, revealed S4S would be sending a memorandum asking the British government to ensure Putrajaya abides by the treaty.

“On Aug 27, 1976, the Malaysian government unilaterally amended the federal constitution to regroup the Federation of Malaysia into 13 states as opposed to the original three territories of Federation of Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah as per the Malaysia Agreement.

“This reduced the political status of Sarawak and Sabah from being two of three equal component territories to two of thirteen components of the Federation. This is a clear breach of the agreement.”

He said the group had sent a memorandum in February, but the envelope came back unopened.

“If they continue to ignore us, then we are planning to take legal action against them (British government),” he said.

He said there was nothing wrong with asking for Britain’s help on this matter as the country was one of the signatories of the agreement, including the Federation of Malaya, North Borneo (now known as Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore.

“Therefore, this is not merely the domestic affair of Malaysia, but of international concern and in the interest of human rights that may affect the integrity, trustworthiness, reliability and credibility of the parties concerned.”

He also claimed that without Sabah and Sarawak, the peninsula might have problems surviving.

“The (Petronas) Twin Towers were built with our money but, meanwhile, we can’t even get clean water. Malaya has thousands of kilometres of highway because of our resources, while we don’t even have a thousand kilometres of highway.

“Malaya depends on our resources. We, on the other hand, will be fine.” - FMT