MP slams lack of transparency, accountability in MA63 negotiations

KUCHING: Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii has claimed that the previous Perikatan Nasional (PN) government’s moves to keep the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) negotiations under wraps have continued under the current government.

He said he was disappointed that Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sarawak and Sabah Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili had said there was no requirement to disclose reports on the ongoing discussion on MA63.

The DAP rep said in a statement that Maximus’ remark was contrary to the demands and wishes of the people of Malaysia especially when it comes to such an important issue of public interest.

“This is a continuation of the practices of the previous Perikatan Nasional 1.0 government which continues to give excuses that the reports were technical and involved confidential documents which needed to be protected.

“Such secrecy and nontransparent dealings in the past are what resulted in Sarawak and Sabah gradually losing our special rights under MA63, and somehow the government which includes the current Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government has not learned from their mistakes when they were part of Barisan Nasional (BN),” he said.

Last Friday, Maximus in a reply in the Dewan Rakyat to a question from Sri Aman

MP Datuk Masir Kujat, said it was premature to make any announcements as matters concerning MA63 were still under negotiation.

“The reports are quite technical and documents are confidential, which should be protected as provided by the law. However, the government will make announcements from time to time once we have reached a common solution on the matter,” he said.

Dr Yii said when the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government formed a high-level Special Cabinet Committee to discuss steps to restore the rights of Sarawak and Sabah, a total of 17 out of 21 matters tabled by the state governments to review the implementation of MA63 were jointly approved.

He added that other important decisions made then under PH was the formation of a bipartisan Parliament Select Committee to monitor the implementation of all items that were agreed upon so that there was transparency and accountability and that they could be implemented expeditiously.

However, Dr Yii said after the formation of the PN government, not only was the MA63 report put under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), the agreement to form the bipartisan Parliament Select Committee was scrapped and because of that, the people of Sarawak and Sabah were deprived of accountability and kept in the dark on the progress of its implementation.

“When I brought up the importance of such report to be taken out of OSA in Parliament, and asked what was done in the past 1.5 years on MA63, the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi somehow answered in Parliament and proclaimed that one of the things they did under PN is the success of Sarawak obtaining the rights to distribute liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the state without the need to apply for a licence from Putrajaya.

“However, such an agreement to ease the process of distribution of LPG in Sarawak without need to apply for permission from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) was one of the 17 items agreed in the MA63 report done under the PH government.

“That is why there is an urgent need for greater transparency and accountability and the MA63 report must be made public so that the public themselves can see the progress of the implementation of what was agreed upon rather than our rights being used as a political tool especially during the upcoming elections,” he said.

Dr Yii urged the current PN government to declassify the MA63 report and form the bipartisan Parliament Select Committee to monitor its implementation.

“Such agenda must be a bipartisan agenda and must not be done in secrecy,” he said.