MA63: Sarawak exercising rightful authority over resources, says Bandar Kuching MP

KUCHING (Jan 29): Sarawak’s exercise of its rights under the Oil Mining Ordinance (OMO) 1958 is not an act of defiance but a lawful continuation of state authority.

Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii said the OMO 1958 represents the exercise of power and sovereignty that formed the foundation of the Federation.

“It is a right that should never have been surrendered,” he told Parliament during the Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address.

“Oil and gas (O&G) do not float in the air. They are found beneath the land and the seabed,” he added.

Yii explained that if the federal government originally possessed proprietary constitutional rights over petroleum, there would have been no need for the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 and the Territorial Sea Act 2012.

“These Acts exist because ownership did not originally belong to the Federation. Parliament legislated to acquire control, not to affirm an existing right,” he said.

Acknowledging that certain aspects of the issue are currently under judicial consideration, Yii stressed that the courts are the proper forum to determine constitutional interpretation and Sarawak’s rights under the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 (MA63).

“I am confident in the rights the state possesses and await the court’s decision,” he said.

He argued that no rational government or territory would enter a federation only to surrender its sovereignty and primary natural resources without clear agreement.

“An Act of Parliament cannot override the constitutional structure. Political convenience cannot defeat foundational terms. Gradual centralisation does not extinguish original sovereignty.

“The rights of Sabah and Sarawak are not demands. They are a constitutional inheritance, born of sovereign ownership that was never relinquished,” Yii said.

The MP said the time has come for this inheritance to be fully respected, in line with promises made to Sarawak’s forefathers during the formation of Malaysia.

Yii also responded to remarks by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, who said Sarawak’s O&G rights were not expressly stated in MA63.

He described this as a ‘narrow’ interpretation that failed to consider the full historical and legal context.

“MA63 was a nation-building contract that established Malaysia as a federation of distinct entities, each with its own history, laws and inherent sovereignty,” he said.

Yii added that dismissing MA63’s relevance to natural resources simply because the words ‘oil and gas’ do not appear explicitly reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of constitutional compacts.

He noted that the Federal Constitution clearly placed land and natural resources under state jurisdiction, a position protected for Sabah and Sarawak under Article 95D.

The Sarawak Land Code also defines state land to include the seabed within its extended boundaries, reinforcing state ownership.

Yii stressed that sovereignty over Sarawak, including ownership and control of its land and natural resources, was transferred by the Queen directly to the Sarawak government under MA63, not to the federal government.

This was reinforced during Sarawak’s period of self-governance from July 22, 1963, until the formation of Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963.