KUCHING: All the oil and gas in the territorial waters of Sabah and Sarawak belong to the respective state governments and not Petronas, claims Parti Kerjasama Rakyat Sabah (Pakar) secretary general Zainnal Ajamain.
Zainnal, who is one of the six plaintiffs who took Petronas and the Sabah State Government to court in Sept 25, 2012 also asserted that 100% of the offshore petroleum and gas found in Sabah and Sarawak territorial waters actually belong to the people in Sabah and Sarawak.
“These territorial waters were forcefully taken from Sabah and Sarawak by the Federal Government using three acts of Parliament, namely The Continental Shelf Act 1966, The Petroleum Mining Act 1966 and The Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance no.7 1969,” he said.
This situation, according to him was created when Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak lifted the Emergency Proclamation based on Article 150 (7) on the Nov 23, 2011.
“By this proclamation it means that all laws created by the Emergency (Essential Powers) Act 1979 cease to have any effect six months after the proclamation was made which means May 24, 2012.
“Ownership of all territorial waters in Sabah and Sarawak which extent to 180 km as provided for under the North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council 1954 reverts to Sabah and Sarawak.
“Section (2) of the North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council 1954 says, ‘The boundaries of the Colony of North Borneo are hereby extended to include the area of the continental shelf being the seabed and its subsoil which lies beneath the high seas contiguous to the territorial waters of North Borneo’,” Zainnal said in a statement to FMTBorneoPlus.
According to Zainnal, the federal government used the Petroleum Development Act 1974 to transfer exclusive rights, powers, liberties and privileges of exploring, exploiting, winning and obtaining petroleum whether onshore or offshore of Malaysia to be vested in a corporation, which was Petronas.
This was possible by using the three acts of Parliament, namely The Continental Shelf Act 1966, The Petroleum Mining Act 1966 and The Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance no.7 1969.
“The Continental Shelf Act 1966 sets the stage where it defines ‘continental shelf’ as the sea-bed and subsoil of submarine areas adjacent to the coast of Malaysia but beyond the limits of the territorial waters of the States, the surface of which lies at a depth no greater than two hundred meters below the surface of the sea, or, where the depth of the superjacent waters admits of the exploitation of the natural resources of the said areas, at any greater depth’.
“With this Act the Federal Government took over the “Continental Shelf” which was already established for Sabah and Sarawak through the North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council, 1954,” said Zainnal.
“The two Acts cannot be enforced in Sabah and Sarawak because enforcement requires gazette and this gazette requires the approval of the Dewan Undangan Negeri of Sabah and Sarawak.
“The Federal Government however circumvented the need to get the approval of Sabah and Sarawak State Governments by gazetting the two Acts using the gazette P.U. (A) 467/1969 Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance No.10 of 1969 dated 8th November 1969.
“The third law passed was the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance No.7 1969 was Section 4 (2) which says: ‘For the purposes of the Continental Shelf Act, 1966, the Petroleum Mining Act, 1966, the National Land Code and any written law relating to land in force in Sabah and Sarawak, any reference to territorial waters therein shall in relation to any territory be construed as a reference to such part of the sea adjacent to the coast thereof not exceeding three nautical miles measured from the low-water mark’,” he said.
Why demand when federal has no rights
Zainnal added that under the third law the territorial water of every state is limited to three nautical miles measured from the low-water mark.
“This means that with this Ordinance, everything above the three nautical miles belongs to the Federal Government,” he said.
He reiterated that the three laws ceased to have any effect on Sabah and Sarawak when Najib lifted the Emergency proclaimation on Nov 23,2011.
“This also means the rightful owners of the territorial waters now are the State Government of Sabah and Sarawak this also means that after the proclamation of emergency is lifted the Federal government does not have the rights to transfer these territorial waters to Petronas.
“Therefore why do the people in Sabah and Sarawak need to ‘demand or request’ from the Federal Government for 20 percent of their own properties?” Zainnal asked alluding to growing calls in Sabah and Sarawak for a review of the current 5% oil royalty.
Last week, the three Barisan Nasional component parties’ youth wings issued a joint statement demanding the federal government increase the oil royalty from 5% to 20%.
Youth leaders - Jake Jikulin Nointin (PBS), Author Kurup (PBRS) and Arthun Sen (Upko) – were backing an earlier call on the issue by Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem.
On the weekend Sabah Umno deputy liasion chief Salleh Said Keruak also urged Putrajaya not to ignore the growing calls for a review of the percentage.
FMT Borneo Plus
Zainnal, who is one of the six plaintiffs who took Petronas and the Sabah State Government to court in Sept 25, 2012 also asserted that 100% of the offshore petroleum and gas found in Sabah and Sarawak territorial waters actually belong to the people in Sabah and Sarawak.
“These territorial waters were forcefully taken from Sabah and Sarawak by the Federal Government using three acts of Parliament, namely The Continental Shelf Act 1966, The Petroleum Mining Act 1966 and The Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance no.7 1969,” he said.
This situation, according to him was created when Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak lifted the Emergency Proclamation based on Article 150 (7) on the Nov 23, 2011.
“By this proclamation it means that all laws created by the Emergency (Essential Powers) Act 1979 cease to have any effect six months after the proclamation was made which means May 24, 2012.
“Ownership of all territorial waters in Sabah and Sarawak which extent to 180 km as provided for under the North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council 1954 reverts to Sabah and Sarawak.
“Section (2) of the North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council 1954 says, ‘The boundaries of the Colony of North Borneo are hereby extended to include the area of the continental shelf being the seabed and its subsoil which lies beneath the high seas contiguous to the territorial waters of North Borneo’,” Zainnal said in a statement to FMTBorneoPlus.
According to Zainnal, the federal government used the Petroleum Development Act 1974 to transfer exclusive rights, powers, liberties and privileges of exploring, exploiting, winning and obtaining petroleum whether onshore or offshore of Malaysia to be vested in a corporation, which was Petronas.
This was possible by using the three acts of Parliament, namely The Continental Shelf Act 1966, The Petroleum Mining Act 1966 and The Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance no.7 1969.
“The Continental Shelf Act 1966 sets the stage where it defines ‘continental shelf’ as the sea-bed and subsoil of submarine areas adjacent to the coast of Malaysia but beyond the limits of the territorial waters of the States, the surface of which lies at a depth no greater than two hundred meters below the surface of the sea, or, where the depth of the superjacent waters admits of the exploitation of the natural resources of the said areas, at any greater depth’.
“With this Act the Federal Government took over the “Continental Shelf” which was already established for Sabah and Sarawak through the North Borneo (Alteration of Boundaries) Order in Council, 1954,” said Zainnal.
“The two Acts cannot be enforced in Sabah and Sarawak because enforcement requires gazette and this gazette requires the approval of the Dewan Undangan Negeri of Sabah and Sarawak.
“The Federal Government however circumvented the need to get the approval of Sabah and Sarawak State Governments by gazetting the two Acts using the gazette P.U. (A) 467/1969 Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance No.10 of 1969 dated 8th November 1969.
“The third law passed was the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance No.7 1969 was Section 4 (2) which says: ‘For the purposes of the Continental Shelf Act, 1966, the Petroleum Mining Act, 1966, the National Land Code and any written law relating to land in force in Sabah and Sarawak, any reference to territorial waters therein shall in relation to any territory be construed as a reference to such part of the sea adjacent to the coast thereof not exceeding three nautical miles measured from the low-water mark’,” he said.
Why demand when federal has no rights
Zainnal added that under the third law the territorial water of every state is limited to three nautical miles measured from the low-water mark.
“This means that with this Ordinance, everything above the three nautical miles belongs to the Federal Government,” he said.
He reiterated that the three laws ceased to have any effect on Sabah and Sarawak when Najib lifted the Emergency proclaimation on Nov 23,2011.
“This also means the rightful owners of the territorial waters now are the State Government of Sabah and Sarawak this also means that after the proclamation of emergency is lifted the Federal government does not have the rights to transfer these territorial waters to Petronas.
“Therefore why do the people in Sabah and Sarawak need to ‘demand or request’ from the Federal Government for 20 percent of their own properties?” Zainnal asked alluding to growing calls in Sabah and Sarawak for a review of the current 5% oil royalty.
Last week, the three Barisan Nasional component parties’ youth wings issued a joint statement demanding the federal government increase the oil royalty from 5% to 20%.
Youth leaders - Jake Jikulin Nointin (PBS), Author Kurup (PBRS) and Arthun Sen (Upko) – were backing an earlier call on the issue by Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem.
On the weekend Sabah Umno deputy liasion chief Salleh Said Keruak also urged Putrajaya not to ignore the growing calls for a review of the percentage.
FMT Borneo Plus
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