Oil royalty: PBS proposes Sabah BN committee

Wednesday 2 April 2014


KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) has now proposed for a state-level Barisan Nasional committee instead to pursue a review on the oil royalty increase for the state.

Its information chief, Jahid Jahim, said the committee should comprise representatives from each of Sabah BN component parties — Umno, PBS, Upko, PBRS, LDP, MCA, Gerakan and MIC.

“Now that we have one solid voice of strong support from all our leaders and people of Sabah to ask for oil royalty increase, it would be the most appropriate time to form a committee to aggressively and effectively pursue the matter at the Federal level,” he said here.

Claiming the PBS proposal would be the best and most appropriate approach to pursue the matter, Jahid said that the Sabah BN committee could work with its counterpart in Sarawak which has been clamouring for its own royalty increase too.

Days ago, PBS youth leader, together with the youth chiefs of another two Kadazandusun-based BN parties, Upko and PBRS, made a joint call in support of Sarawak Chief Minister Adenan Satem’s statement that he would petition the Federal for 20% oil royalty. Currently Sabah and Sarawak receive only 5% oil royalty..

The trio had also called for the Federal Government to Borneonise the federal agencies in Sabah, which means staffing should be derived from locals and not West Malaysians or Sarawakians as had been the case since the formation of Malaysia in 1963.

Borneonisation is one of the 20 points put forward by political groupings or parties from then North Borneo as an important pre-condition to joining the Federation of Malaya together with Singapore in 1963.

This condition was never fulfilled by the federal government and it has become a ‘thorn in the flesh’ in the relationship between Sabah and Putrajaya.

The issue is now a bone of contention because of it has become increasingly difficult for locals seeking employment. West Malaysians are coming in droves to staff the various federal departments and agencies in Sabah.

‘Petroleum Surrender Agreement’

Meanwhile opposition party STAR’s chief and Bingkor,assemblyman Jefffrey Kitingan said the ruling BN leaders in Sabah should not just call for an increase in oil royalty but should get Putrajaya to restore Sabah’s right on its own oil and gas.

“These leaders were missing the point by looking at the oil royalty from a narrow perspective.

“Don’t just beg for an increase in oil royalty. It is our rights, it is from our oil. Seek to restore our oil ownership rights instead,” Kitingan said in a statement here.

“This could be done by invalidating the “petroleum surrender agreement” signed by then chief minister, Harris Salleh, and witnessed by Joseph Pairin Kitingan on July 14, 1976,” said Kitingan.

Kitingan stressed that the “agreement” that purportedly represented the will of Sabahans was very questionable because it has never been validated by a sitting of the state legislative assembly.

FMT Borneo Plus

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