Brief Sabah assembly on Ambalat issue, Yong tells Wisma Putra

KOTA KINABALU: Wisma Putra should urgently brief the Sabah legislative assembly on the Ambalat issue, says SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee.

The former chief minister said the issue was “getting hotter” after it was mentioned by Tungku assemblyman Assaffal Alian of Warisan in the recent state assembly session that Ambalat had been given to the Indonesian government.

“Sabahans now want (verified) facts and truth instead of simply accepting official statements from the government,” he said in a statement on Wednesday (Aug 16).

“I welcome the invitation of Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Mohamad Alamin to anyone who has questions about the treaty on the Sulawesi Sea between Malaysia and Indonesia, to ask his ministry for clarification,” Yong said.

He said after Assafal’s claim, Mohamad had said that Wisma Putra was willing to explain and that people should not speculate on the matter, which has become a hot topic on social media.

“In the same way that the Minister for Law (Datuk Azalina Othman Said) has briefed Sabah assembly members on the Sulu claim arbitration case, Wisma Putra should also urgently brief the assembly on the Sulawesi Sea and Ambalat issue,” he said.

“I hope the Federal Government understands why Sabah people are sceptical of federal announcements due to a previous issue, namely the oil blocks L and M of two million acres of maritime territory that was lost to another neighbouring country in 2010,” said Yong.

He said at that time, Malaysian media reported that the resolution of the issue of L and M was in exchange for Brunei settling the “Limbang Question” (in Sarawak) but this assertion was later denied by Brunei.

Earlier, he said Mohamad revealed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and President Joko Widodo have signed a treaty concerning the Sulawesi Sea (to the South of Tawau) on June 8 when the Indonesian leader visited Malaysia.

Following this visit, several Opposition leaders had called for the Prime Minister to provide details of the Sulawesi Sea Treaty and explain whether or not it involves areas known as the Ambalat Block, or what Malaysia refers to as Block ND6 and Block ND7.

The Prime Minister had then told the Dewan Rakyat that the two treaties signed with Indonesia, which demarcated parts of the two countries’ maritime borders, are in accordance with the law and were only signed after consultations were made with government agencies.

Anwar stressed that the treaties do not involve territories that are still in dispute, including the maritime boundary delimitation in the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf between the two countries.

Anwar had said that the treaty does not cover the areas referred to by Malaysia as Block ND6 and Block ND7, or referred to by Indonesia as Ambalat.