KUCHING, March 31 — The Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Implementation Action Council Technical Committee will hold a meeting in the next two weeks to finalise the education and health issues in Sabah and Sarawak.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said this is a continuation of concluded discussions for Sarawak, focused on identifying areas of authority that can be decentralised to the state government for the management of education and healthcare matters.
“As agreed during the visit of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday, for example, if schools constructed by the Sarawak government meet equivalent standards at a reduced cost, they will be executed under the agreed terms,” he said.
Fadillah, who is also the Minister of Energy Transition and Public Utilities and Petra Jaya Member of Parliament was speaking to reporters after the presentation of aid organised by the Muslim Welfare Trust Board at Kampung Gita Matang here today,
He noted that one of the current constraints of the federal government is the financial allocation for implementing construction projects such as schools and hospitals.
“The state government may, for instance, require Sarawak to establish its own Cancer Centre, but due to budgetary constraints and other policies, an agreement was reached yesterday to establish a committee between the state and federal governments.
“In principle, this arrangement enables the state government to initially finance the construction of the cancer centre, with subsequent funding from the federal government, contingent upon negotiated terms,” he explained.
At the Sarawak Development Briefing held in Kota Samarahan yesterday, the Prime Minister consented to the formation of a dedicated committee comprising representatives from the federal government and Sarawak to address the issues within the education and healthcare sectors of the state, bypassing bureaucratic obstacles.
The State Secretary of Sarawak, Datuk Amar Mohamad Abu Bakar Marzuki, who conducted the briefing, informed reporters that this committee differs from the State Development Action Committee as it focuses on federal education and healthcare projects.
“State officials will collaborate with federal counterparts to deliberate on essential measures aimed at minimising bureaucracy and expediting the execution of projects within these two sectors,” he emphasised. — Bernama
