KOTA KINABALU: Deputy Chief Minister cum State Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, is hopeful many Malaysia Agreement 1963 issues will be resolved under the new federal administration.
“We met the new Prime Minister recently and we asked whether they will continue with the Cabinet Committee on MA63 (set up by previous government).His (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s) response was ‘why is there need for a Cabinet Committee, why don’t we just implement it?’
“I said, are you sure? He said ‘yes’. We are happy as that response means that we will focus on implementation.
“We have to sit down on how to get the 40 per cent (Sabah’s constitutional revenue entitlement share). The first is to confirm by what is meant by net revenue. Once that is decided, then we should focus on what should be included in the income derived by the Federal Government from Sabah,” he said.
“Then we need to work out what amount is Sabah’s 40 per cent. It’s not too difficult. I hope it will happen, and it will happen soon. We are not taking any money from anybody. It is our money that they collect and they just return part of it. That’s all. Very simple.”
Dr Jeffrey was speaking after launching the Sabah Government’s new set of Strategic Plan of Actions (SPA) 2021-2030 to address emerging challenges and take advantage of potential opportunities to enhance conservation and management of the Heart of Borneo (HoB) landscape at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) on behalf of the Chief Minister, to further energise the conservation of the HoB.
Delivering the Chief Minister’s speech at the opening of the Heart of Borneo Symposium themed “The Need for Holistic and Pragmatic Approaches on Conservation Efforts”, Dr Jeffrey said Sabah had made significant strides in implementing programmes and projects set forth in the Second Sabah Strategic Plan of Actions (SPA).
However, he said, given the rapidly changing economic, social and environmental landscape, a new SPA 2021-2030 is needed to build on the achievements of its predecessor.
“The achievements are underpinned by the following strengths of the Sabah HoB Initiative: State and Federal Governments’ commitment towards the initiative; policy continuity; the ability for key stakeholders to work together; and the ability to leverage the HoB brand for funding and new partnerships,” he said.
Several new features were introduced in the new SPA to further align its focus moving forward representing strategic shifts critical to move the Sabah HoB Initiative to higher gear towards conservation.
“The goals of the focus area of the Sabah HoB SPA 2021-2030 are closely aligned with the main goals of the key State’s and national development plans including the Haja Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya Development Plan 2021-2025, Sabah Development Corridor Blueprint 2021-2030 and the 12th Malaysia Plan 2021-2025,” he said.
The Sabah HoB, he said, was contributing to the country’s international commitments such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze, Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB), Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and the World Heritage Convention (WHC).
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