KOTA KINABALU: Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS) is of the opinion that there is no need for negotiation on Sabah’s rights.
“This is because the Malaysian Agreement had been negotiated and signed prior to 16th September 1963 and therefore there is no more negotiation needed, we only need to implement its contents,” PCS president Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Bumburing said.
According to the Tamparuli assemblyman, the decision by Sabah to agree to join the formation of Malaysia was based on the signed agreement and therefore it had to be implemented accordingly.
He claimed that the details of the Malaysian Agreement 1963 (MA63) had been hidden from the knowledge of Sabahans since 1963 and therefore they were not aware of their rights as provided for in the MA63.
Now that the documents on the agreement are made available, every Sabahan demands that the provisions in the agreement must be implemented, he stressed.
“Sabahans are wary about Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s assurance that a committee had been formed to look into the rights of Sabah because of the experience we have with the RCI on the illegal immigrants which, until today there is no outcome yet of the findings.
“Therefore Sabahans look at the assurance of the Prime Minister on the agreement as only delaying tactics,” he opined.
Bumburing also was of the opinion that the state government should send an official delegation to the federal government for a discussion on the immediate implementation of the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
He opined that the Sarawak government had been consistent and vocal on its assertion of its rights and even sent a delegation to London to search for the relevant document on the Malaysia Agreement 1963.
The meaningless rhetoric by Kuala Lumpur must now stop and action must be taken, he stressed.
“On a different note I thank Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan for mentioning my name during the ground breaking ceremony of the bridge project linking Tuaran town to Sungai Damit recently. This only proved that without being highlighted at so many times the bridge which the people have been waiting for so long would be just like the water passing under the bridge.
“I have voiced about the bridge so many times in Parliament and in the Sabah state assembly. The government had announced the approval of the bridge so many times in the last few years but there is no forthcoming allocation.
“The ground breaking is only done because of the looming election. We have yet to see the promise made by Datuk Rahman that the bridge will be completed within 18 months. Question arises as to whether the Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA) report has been done and soil test has been carried out besides the issue of compensation on the affected land and houses has been tackled or even taken into consideration,” he said.
The estimated cost of the bridge is only RM18 million and therefore if the governments, both state and federal, are concerned with the need of the people, money doesn’t seem to a big problem since the prime minister has the money to spend in support of the infrastructure development of the United States of America, he pointed out.
The Federal government, and for that matter, the Prime Minister should be wise enough to know where money should be spent on infrastructure development, who needs infrastructure development the most, and who doesn’t need them, he said.
“On the Malaysia Day celebration, I would like to question the Federal government on why only Sabah and Sarawak take turns to host the national level Malaysia Day celebration. Malaysia consists of Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya and thus Malaya too must take turns to host the celebration. Unless otherwise, the government has other motive in having only Sarawak and Sabah taking turns to host the celebration,” he stressed.