Bumburing
KOTA KINABALU (July 5): There is no need for a new Malaysia Agreement, said Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) Tuaran coordination committee.
Chairman of the committee, Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Bumburing in a statement on Tuesday said, “It is illogical that after 60 years of existence as a federation a new agreement is to be made.
The discussion on the existing agreement is already taking a lot of time.
“To draft a new agreement will take a longer time, what more on the implementation of the new agreement. What is important is the sincere and committed action of the federal government to fully implement the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63),” he said.
Bumburing said PBRS Tuaran believed that Barisan Nasional (BN) deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan had good intentions when he suggested that BN Sabah leadership propose a new agreement as a more concrete way forward towards realizing the state’s rights and demands enshrined under MA63.
“He had related to the ongoing but at a snail’s pace discussion on the Malaysia Agreement 1963. We however feel that there is no need for a new agreement because the Malaysia Agreement 1963 contained all the details of rights of Sabah,” said Bumburing.
He opined that BN needs to clearly put this issue in its manifesto for the coming general election to assure Sabahans that the incoming BN government is committed to put this issue to rest so that the country can move on based on the new order.
“We welcome the suggestion by Datuk Seri Najib on the Look Borneo Policy in replacement of the Look East Policy which was adopted during Dr Mahathir era.
“As we have understood it, the Look East Policy emphasizes on giving priority to eastern developed countries, particularly Japan. The emphasis in the policy is to give priority to Japan in terms of foreign investment, technology transfer, emulation of work ethic and management system. As Najib mentioned, the world order has changed and a new approach is needed,” he said.
Bumburing however stressed that the Look Borneo Policy will never be a replacement of the Look East Policy.
“It entails new policy in speeding up economic development of the two Bornean states, not only to be at par with Malaya but to keep at pace with the potential growth of the new administrative center of Indonesia in Kalimantan,” he said.
He opined that if Sabah and Sarawak lag behind there would be reversal in business and job opportunities in the two states.
Presently Sabah relies heavily on the labor workforce from Indonesia, potentially the scenario will be reversed where Sabahans have to find jobs in Kalimantan, said Bumburing.
According to him if the federal government is serious about this policy, many concrete definitive policies action must be done.
To spur growth, basic infrastructure like ports, roads, electricity and water supply must be developed. Human resources must develop in terms of skills and expertise, he pointed out.
“Without a skilled labor force, we can never spur fast development. The federal government must also engineer redistribution of foreign direct investment to the two Borneon states,” he added.
Bunburing also said that PBRS Tuaran coordinating committee welcomes the BN central leadership’s decision to leave the seat negotiation for the 15th general election to BN Sabah and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).
This, he said, signals autonomy for the BN component parties in Sabah and potential cooperation between BN and GRS.
“Nevertheless, we urge that before BN Sabah comes to the table of discussion with GRS, there must first be a concrete discussion among the component parties of the coalition.
“MCA Sabah had stated their wish list in the media. While PBRS has not made any public statement on the matter, we believe that PBRS’ leadership has a list in mind.
“Discussion and negotiation must be based on the spirit of comradeship, demographic distribution and historicity of seats.
“PBRS as the sole Sabah-based component party in BN Sabah carries the heavy burden of securing some of the seats left by the former Sabah-based parties like PBS and UPKO. Therefore, PBRS deserves to be given due recognition,” said Bumburing.