Sharifah Hasidah speaking to reporters after handing out food aid initiated by Sheda Kuching at Mom’s Laksa, Jalan Astana branch. – Photo by Roystein Emmor
KUCHING (June 27): More time and negotiations are needed to implement matters agreed under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) that involve Sarawak’s rights and interests, said Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali.
The Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring) said despite the current Movement Control Order (MCO), many meetings were held through Zoom to iron out the details on the agreements between the state and federal government.
“Our negotiations and talks are ongoing, and there are still a lot more matters that need to be settled and ironed out under the MA63, especially the commercial settlement agreement with Petronas,” she said after handing out food aid organised by the Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers (Sheda) Kuching branch at Mom’s Laksa, Jalan Astana here today.
Noting that the challenge now is to implement the matters where agreements had been reached, Sharifah Hasidah said the progress had been delayed due to the current movement restrictions.
“Things are going on well so far and as I said, the implementation phase is altogether a different area. What we agreed upon is one thing but to implement, it will take a bit more time and talks to iron things out.
“It is not that our negotiations have stopped due to the current MCO. Of course, we cannot do things and negotiate as fast as we would like to but things are progressing well,” she explained.
In December last year, Petronas and Sarawak government had reached a commercial settlement agreement, which would allow the latter to enjoy a greater share of revenues from its oil and gas resources.
The agreement provided for a more active involvement by state-owned oil and gas exploration company Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros) in the oil and gas industry.
Petros now has the full control and authority over the supply, sales and distribution of natural gas within Sarawak, including delivering domestic gas to homes, businesses and industries.