Government can present maritime agreement to Select Committee, says Khairy

PETALING JAYA: The government could present the details of the maritime boundary agreement signed with Indonesia discreetly to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on International Affairs, says Khairy Jamaluddin.

He said that he is suggesting that the government consider taking this step if it could not declassify the agreement to show that it does not involve the Ambalat block.

The former health minister said in a story on his Instagram account that he did something similar during the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, adding that both government and opposition MPs were in the special committee.

“I did this during the vaccination programme. Despite non-disclosure agreements with the manufacturers, I showed the purchase contracts to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC),” he said.

Khairy added that the PAC then concluded that everything (the vaccine purchase process) was proper.

On Sunday, Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee said that the government is urged to declassify the maritime delimitation treaty between Malaysia and Indonesia in the name of public interest.

The Sabah Perikatan Nasional chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee said the declassification of the agreement signed between the two countries during Indonesia president Joko Widodo’s visit to Malaysia in June could clear the air about the matter.

It will also put a stop to all speculations including some claiming that Malaysia has “signed off” its interest in the Sulawesi Sea with the agreement, he said.

Kiandee said the 15,000km per square foot Ambalat block in the centre of the territories is still in dispute outside Sabah’s coastal area and is said to have the largest source of crude oil in the world.

He then added that it has been defended by the Malaysian government for so long.

“This cannot be pawned off at any cost. We cannot compromise when it comes to the sovereignty of our country especially in Sabah waters, which also involves the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf between Malaysia and Indonesia,” he added.

Kiandee said maritime experts involved in the protection of Malaysian territorial rights had warned Putrajaya to not sign any new agreements with Indonesia to solve the issue which had been under dispute for so long.