MA63: No need to make final report public

The Government maintains its stand not to make the final report from the Cabinet special committee to review the implementation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), available to the public.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Sabah and Sarawak affairs) Datuk Hanifah Hajar Taib said this was because the document has been classified as official secret under the Official Secrets Act 1972.

"For the moment, the government maintains its stands that there is no need for the final report to be distributed to the public as the content is technical in nature and involves sensitive matters.

"As such, the status of the document remains as official secret and is to be treated as such as provided by the law," she said.

She said this in her reply to a question from Chan Foong Hin (PH-Kota Kinabalu) on the status of the he final report from the Cabinet special committee to review the implementation of MA63 during a special chamber session at the Dewan Rakyat today.

Chan also asked about the status of 21 matters tabled in the report including four issues that are still being discussed namely oil royalty and petroleum cash payments; oil minerals and oil fields; Territorial Sea Act 2012 [Act 750]; and state rights over the continental shelf.

Hanifah Hajar said discussions on the four matters are still ongoing and a special council would also be set up soon for that purpose.

"A joint committee consisting of members from the federal and state governments has also been set up to discuss issues on oil and gas.

"The committee is co-chaired by the Senior Minister (Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, who is also Works Minister) and the Finance Minister (Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz) and MOF secretariat," she said.

In December last year, former deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohamed Hanipa Maidin told Dewan Negara that 17 out of 21 matters tabled by the Sarawak and Sabah governments at the Cabinet special committee meeting to review the implementation of MA63 have been jointly approved.

The matters include claims to export duties for logs and forest products in Sabah; State's authority over health issues In Sarawak and Sabah; Regulation of gas and electricity distribution in Sarawak and Sabah.

-- BERNAMA