The DAP’s Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin also accused Ongkili and the Perikatan Nasional-led (PN) government of trying to claim credit for what the PH government had achieved regarding the MA63 issue.
Chan, who was a member of the previous government’s MA63 technical committee, contended that Ongkili was attempting to mislead Sabahans over the return of the Ligitan and Sipadan islands’ administration to the state.
“Why is Ongkili misleading Sabahans now and claiming credit for something which PN is absolutely not entitled to?” he asked in a statement here today.
“I read Ongkili’s statement yesterday with lots of question marks. What does his announcement that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had agreed to the handover of Ligitan and Sipadan islands to the Sabah government mean actually?
“Hadn’t the Cabinet under (former prime minister) Dr Mahathir Mohamad already agreed to this during PH’s rule? Is Ongkili trying to say that Muhyiddin did not agree to the return (of the islands) when he was part of the PH Cabinet?”
Ongkili had yesterday said the special council on MA63 (MKMA63) set up by the PN government found that most of the 17 MA63 issues claimed as having been resolved by PH were but “mere commitments”.
The minister claimed commitments were made on the issues by PH but no policies, laws and regulations were implemented to give effect to these commitments.
Ongkili said the PN government would, however, deliver on these commitments, beginning with the formal return of the Ligitan and Sipadan islands to Sabah, and the return of full control and management of gas distribution to Sarawak.
But Chan refuted this, saying he attended multiple meetings to iron out the details of the issues together with key figures such as the late Liew Vui Keong, the former law minister, ex-attorney-general Tommy Thomas and former Sabah AG Zaleha Rose Pandin.
“I vividly remember that the issue over the administration of Sipadan and Ligitan islands was described as a ‘low hanging fruit’ and was one of the first that was resolved and agreed upon (to return to Sabah) within the first few meetings,” he said.
The committee had agreed that it made no sense for the administration of these islands to continue under the National Security Council, he added.
Chan said former deputy law minister Hanipa Maidin had in late 2019 also told the Dewan Negara that 17 issues had been resolved, the handing over of the administration of Sipadan and Ligitan islands being one of them.
“No dispute was raised back then regarding it. Furthermore, on Nov 23 last year, Ongkili himself said during his winding up speech for budget 2021 that ’17 of Sabah’s 21 demands had been met by the previous PH special committee’.
“Is the administration of Sipadan and Ligitan not part of the 17? Why is there a need for Muhyiddin to assent a second time as if there wasn’t one previously? Why hide the contribution and role of PH and Warisan in the achievement?” he asked.
Chan however admitted that the relevant statutes might not have been in place yet when the PH government collapsed, but at the same time blasted PN for attempting to portray that they were the ones who had in fact “agreed” to the return of the islands to Sabah.
He told Ongkili and Muhyiddin to focus instead on the four remaining issues and get them resolved immediately.
“Stop backtracking and attempting to relook or renegotiate the 17 issues which were resolved in favour of Sabah and Sarawak during PH’s time.”