The Petroleum Development Act 1974 provides for a council comprising members from oil producing states but instead Petronas has Dr Mahathir Mohammad as sole 'counsel'
The problem with the management of the nation’s oil and gas is that it is not transparent.
Not a single audit has been carried out and presented to Parliament ever since its establishment in 1974 although the Petroleum Development Act 1974 specifically provides for it.
The Petroleum Development Act 1974 provides for the establishment of a Petroleum Advisory Council as the obligation of the government and its members are to be from the relevant states to be appointed by the Prime Minister.
The PDA74, Section 5 (1) says: “There shall be established a Council to be known as the National Petroleum Advisory Council consisting of such persons including those from the relevant States as the Prime Minister may appoint.”
A sub-Section (2) says “It shall be the duty of the National Petroleum Advisory Council to advise the Prime Minister on national policy, interests and matters pertaining to petroleum, petroleum industries, energy resources and their utilization.”
The council however was never established as required by the Act.
Instead we have a person by the name of Dr Mahathir Mohammed as the singular advisory ‘counsel’.
He was dropped for a while but was reappointed on the April 10, 2014.
How, why and on what basis is anyone’s guess.
The irony is that he comes from Kedah, a none oil and gas producing state.
It is therefore obvious that Petronas does not serve the states it takes oil and gas from.
Instead it serves non-oil and gas producing states.
Sabah and Sarawak do not get anything.
But if they assert ownership of Sabah and Sarawak’s territorial waters then they will have everything.
The rights reverted back to the states on May 24, 2012 after Prime Minister Najib Razak lifted the Emergency Proclamation six months before.
It’s a new ball game now. In which case will chief ministers Musa Aman and Adenan Satem bell the cat in Putrajaya.
Zainnal Ajamain has held several senior positions in the civil service and government think tanks. He has worked as a lecturer, researcher, stockbroker and has published several papers in international media journals. He helped organise the United Borneo Front (UBF) grouping and remains active in politics.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Important - The views expressed and the links provided on our comment pages are the personal views of individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sabah Report.