KOTA KINABALU: PAS Sabah Youth is urging Sabah members of parliament to find out the implications of the Regional Marine Act 2012 on the state.
Although its objective is to determine Malaysia’s marine region, the Act will, in the future, erode the Sabah and Sarawak state governments’ rights and authority enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and protected in the Malaysia Constitution, said PAS Sabah Youth chief Lahirul Latigu.
Lahirul told a press conference that the enforcement of the law would slowly lead to the Sabah government forever losing its sovereignty, respect and rights.
According to Lahirul, Sabah members of parliament must ask for the Act which was passed in Parliament in April 2012 and enforced on June 22, 2012 as it limits in Sabah and Sarawak’s marine region to only three nautical miles from shore.
“Now if this happens, we will lose our royalty rights to any oil found beyond this three nautical miles boundary. Oil royalty will only be in the form of token payment from the Federal Government and no longer a compulsory payment as stated in the agreement,” he claimed.
Sabah and Sarawak’s position as oil producing states will be no different from Kelantan and Terengganu including in terms of oil royalty, he lamented.
Lahirul also claimed that the Act was not debated in Parliament prior to it being passed and it was also done without the State Government’s agreement.
“It is based on this worry that PAS Sabah Youth is urging both Sabah and Sarawak governments as well as all their elected representatives to make a stand on this. We urge the rakyat of both states to defend their rights in order to guarantee a state that is not easily exploited by anyone,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kota Belud member of parliament Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan when contacted said that the Bill was debated in Parliament when it was tabled by Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz on April 18.
“According to the hansard, it was debated from 4pm to 6.40pm and several opposition leaders, including Nurul Izzah and Tian Chua, took part in the debate. So it is inaccurate to say that it was not debated,” he said when asked to confirm if the Bill had not been debated in Parliament.
“No Bill can be passed without the approval of the members of parliament … it is impossible,” he stressed.