Masing: No axe to grind if PH govt fulfils manifesto promises to S’wak
KUCHING: The Sarawak government would have no beef with the Pakatan Harapan ( PH) federal government if promises made in the latter’s general election manifesto are kept.
Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Masing said the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) coalition would like nothing more for Putrajaya to continue with federal development projects and for rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 ( MA63) to be restored.
“PH and GPS should join hands in developing Sarawak. I have a list of projects promised by the previous federal government that have been put on hold.
“Would PH proceed with them ( projects)? I am waiting,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday in response to a comment made by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that Putrajaya would continue with federal projects in Sarawak regardless of who is governing the state.
Masing, who is also Minister of Infrastructure Development and Transportation, added that when it comes to MA63, Sarawak just wants the return of rights such as those concerning oil and gas revenues.
“In terms of oil and gas, we just demand what belongs to us as spelt out in the Malaysia Agreement 1963. Nothing more, nothing less. Those things are not negotiable.”
Following a closed- door briefing in Bintulu yesterday on the progress of federal development projects in Sarawak, Dr Mahathir said as far as Putrajaya is concerned, Sarawak is part of Malaysia and the state’s development is the responsibility of the federal government.
“We would, of course, prefer a government that is friendly, that is of the same party as the federal ( PH) government. But whether it is a different or same government, federal projects in Sarawak will go on,” he told reporters.