Sabah NGO files originating summons challenging Territorial Sea Act

KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah-based NGO is challenging the Territorial Sea Act (TSA) 2012, a federal law that limits the state’s maritime jurisdiction to up to three nautical miles.

The Sabah Action Body Advocating Rights (Sabar) filed an originating summons to challenge the law at the Kota Kinabalu High Court here through the firm Roland Cheng & Co on Thursday (Sept 14).

Sabar Board of Trustees chairman Datuk Johan Ariffin Samad said the state government had disputed the boundaries and limits of the continental shelf and maintained its stand in rejecting the TSA 2012.

He said the British colonial government ordered the boundaries of the colony of North Borneo (Sabah) to include the continental shelf area through an Order in Council on June 24, 1954.

He added that it included the seabed and its subsoil, which lies beneath the seas contiguous to the territorial waters of North Borneo.

In a statement on Friday (Sept 15), Johan said the Order in Council 1954 had never been revoked and remained part of Sabah territories.

“During the state assembly sitting on Sept 23, 2021, Hajiji said the Sabah government’s stand is that the state’s boundary rights should be enshrined in the Order in Council, which covers the continental shelf.

“Sabar supports the state government’s stand on Order in Council 1954 and has decided that it may be prudent to take the legal route to end the dispute”, Johan said.

He added that the court has fixed Oct 16, for mention.

“Acting in line with Sabar’s constitution and aspirations of the people of Sabah, we pray that our originating summons to reclaim Sabah rights will be successful in the court of law,” he said.