KUCHING: Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg (pix) has expressed hope that the Federal Government which has just taken over the reins of the country’s leadership, will continue to respect the rights and privileges of the state.
He also hoped that the Federal Government remained concerned about the wishes of the people of Sarawak with regard to the state’s rights under the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63).
“Our leaders in the past had agreed to establish Malaysia with several conditions and privileges for one purpose, which is to bring Sarawak towards a more successful era in terms of socio-economic development.
“I, like other Sarawakians, also want to see the rights and privileges of Sarawak as enshrined in the Constitution and MA63 respected by the Federal Government and enforced as it should be,“ he said in a speech in conjunction with the state-level 2021 National Day Celebration here last night.
Sarawak Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud and his wife, Toh Puan Raghad Kurdi Taib, were the guests of honour at the small-scale ceremony, which was also attended by the state’s ministers, department heads and tribal chiefs.
Meanwhile, Abang Johari said the state government was working to implement a vaccination programme for 289,200 individuals aged 12 to 17, which represented 9.94 per cent of Sarawak’s population.
“The government hopes that parents can give their full cooperation to the authorities to facilitate and smoothen the implementation of this programme later,“ he said.
Abang Johari said as of yesterday, about 91 per cent of 2,066,000 eligible individuals aged 18 and above in the state had received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
“Meanwhile, for the second dose, a total of 1,821,499 individuals or 88.2 per cent of eligible individuals 18 years and above have completed the vaccination,“ he said.
-Bernama
