Dr Jeffrey Kitingan
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) President Datuk Seri Dr Jeffrey Kitingan has proposed three key measures to protect Sabah’s rights and autonomy under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).
He called for a joint Sabah–Sarawak review of federal laws that encroach on state powers, restoration of full revenue entitlements including the 40 per cent net revenue share, and binding safeguards in Parliament against further federal encroachment.
“These steps are necessary to ensure that Sabah’s rights and sovereignty under MA63 are preserved,” he said in a statement today.
Dr Jeffrey said recent remarks by the Sarawak Governor on federal encroachment highlighted concerns that Sabah too has long raised, particularly on laws that he argued reduced state authority and revenue.
Among them, he cited the Territorial Sea Act 2012, which limits Sabah’s maritime boundary to three nautical miles, the Fisheries Act 1985, which centralised marine licensing, and the Electricity Supply Act 1990, which placed Sabah’s power sector under federal oversight.
He added that a comprehensive legal and constitutional study was needed to identify the full extent of federal laws affecting Sabah, saying such incursions had left the state more dependent and contradicted the promises of MA63.
