KOTA KINABALU: Excited talk in the Sabah Barisan Nasional coalition government about asking for more money for oil and gas extracted from Sabah is little more than hot air, according to Sabah rights campaigner Jeffrey Kitingan.
The Sabah State Reform Movement (Star) chairman said the Sabah government leaders’ understanding of the state’s rights to its natural wealth was shallow if they were going to merely petitioning the federal government for more money.
The state government, he said, should instead be taking official steps to restore its oil rights rather than go begging the Federal Government to increase the so called “royalty” payment from the current 5% of the take from Sabah.
The opposition assemblyman for Bingkor made the comments today after BN component party youth chiefs suddenly started banging the drums on the touchy “oil royalty” issue that has been raised several times without any response.
The joint suggestion by the Youth Chiefs of PBS, UPKO and PBRS to increase oil royalty to 10% by transferring the federal component of 5% received support from Salleh Said Keruak, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly two days ago.
It also received tentative support from Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government, Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who said it must be viewed from the overall development allocation.
Jeffrey said that these leaders are missing the point by looking at the oil royalty from a narrow perspective.
“Don’t beg for an increase in oil royalty. It is our rights, it is from our oil. Seek to restore our oil ownership rights instead”, he said in a statement today.
He said this could easily be done by invalidating the Petroleum “Surrender” Agreement signed by Harris Salleh and witnessed by current deputy chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan, on 14th July 1976.
“This so called ‘Petroleum Surrender Agreement’ (PSA) was signed on behalf of Sabah under questionable circumstances and was never validated by the Legislative Assembly,” Jeffrey said.
“In that Agreement they (Harris and Pairin) were asked to agree to accept the 5% cash payment under Article 4 of the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 and to WAIVE the State’s rights to collect or impose royalty under the Sabah Land Ordinance.
“The Sabah Government would have been entitled to collect 12.5% in oil royalties in addition to the 5% cash payments as oil royalty payments, that had already been imposed in earlier Petroleum Agreements and licences issued by the Sabah Government to oil prospecting companies before 1976,” said Jeffrey.
Based on this understanding, he said the Sabah Government should take the necessary step to correct the situation “if the BN leaders are sincere”.
The opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition MPS can also table a motion in Parliament to invalidate or revoke and abolish the Petroleum Development Act as unconstitutional if they are genuinely concerned, he added.
“If these Sabah BN and Pakatan leaders are truly Sabahans at heart, they should even ask for shareholdings, not less than 50% to be given to Sabah and Sarawak, in Petronas.
“Petronas would not be what it is today, a Fortune 500 company, without the oil and gas revenues from Sabah and Sarawak.
“In fact, oil producing States can even own 100% of Petronas and the federal government can be given one (1) ‘Golden share’ as what is done for many other companies linked to the federal government and more recently in the proposed Bernas deal,” Jeffrey said.
The Bingkor assemblyman pointed out how Petronas had built the Petronas Twin Towers, once the tallest building in the world and its wholly-owned company, Putrajaya Holdings Sdn. Bhd., had financed the construction and completion of the federal administrative capital in Putrajaya with its profits from the sale of oil and gas of the two Borneo states.
“The time cannot be more opportune than now to restore the oil ownership rights and to correct the past mistakes of past leaders and the injustice imposed on the people of Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
The only thing standing in the way of the state regaining control of its natural wealth are its leaders at both state and federal levels including in the opposition, he said.
Borneo Insider
The Sabah State Reform Movement (Star) chairman said the Sabah government leaders’ understanding of the state’s rights to its natural wealth was shallow if they were going to merely petitioning the federal government for more money.
The state government, he said, should instead be taking official steps to restore its oil rights rather than go begging the Federal Government to increase the so called “royalty” payment from the current 5% of the take from Sabah.
The opposition assemblyman for Bingkor made the comments today after BN component party youth chiefs suddenly started banging the drums on the touchy “oil royalty” issue that has been raised several times without any response.
The joint suggestion by the Youth Chiefs of PBS, UPKO and PBRS to increase oil royalty to 10% by transferring the federal component of 5% received support from Salleh Said Keruak, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly two days ago.
It also received tentative support from Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government, Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who said it must be viewed from the overall development allocation.
Jeffrey said that these leaders are missing the point by looking at the oil royalty from a narrow perspective.
“Don’t beg for an increase in oil royalty. It is our rights, it is from our oil. Seek to restore our oil ownership rights instead”, he said in a statement today.
He said this could easily be done by invalidating the Petroleum “Surrender” Agreement signed by Harris Salleh and witnessed by current deputy chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan, on 14th July 1976.
“This so called ‘Petroleum Surrender Agreement’ (PSA) was signed on behalf of Sabah under questionable circumstances and was never validated by the Legislative Assembly,” Jeffrey said.
“In that Agreement they (Harris and Pairin) were asked to agree to accept the 5% cash payment under Article 4 of the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 and to WAIVE the State’s rights to collect or impose royalty under the Sabah Land Ordinance.
“The Sabah Government would have been entitled to collect 12.5% in oil royalties in addition to the 5% cash payments as oil royalty payments, that had already been imposed in earlier Petroleum Agreements and licences issued by the Sabah Government to oil prospecting companies before 1976,” said Jeffrey.
Based on this understanding, he said the Sabah Government should take the necessary step to correct the situation “if the BN leaders are sincere”.
The opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition MPS can also table a motion in Parliament to invalidate or revoke and abolish the Petroleum Development Act as unconstitutional if they are genuinely concerned, he added.
“If these Sabah BN and Pakatan leaders are truly Sabahans at heart, they should even ask for shareholdings, not less than 50% to be given to Sabah and Sarawak, in Petronas.
“Petronas would not be what it is today, a Fortune 500 company, without the oil and gas revenues from Sabah and Sarawak.
“In fact, oil producing States can even own 100% of Petronas and the federal government can be given one (1) ‘Golden share’ as what is done for many other companies linked to the federal government and more recently in the proposed Bernas deal,” Jeffrey said.
The Bingkor assemblyman pointed out how Petronas had built the Petronas Twin Towers, once the tallest building in the world and its wholly-owned company, Putrajaya Holdings Sdn. Bhd., had financed the construction and completion of the federal administrative capital in Putrajaya with its profits from the sale of oil and gas of the two Borneo states.
“The time cannot be more opportune than now to restore the oil ownership rights and to correct the past mistakes of past leaders and the injustice imposed on the people of Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
The only thing standing in the way of the state regaining control of its natural wealth are its leaders at both state and federal levels including in the opposition, he said.
Borneo Insider
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