SAPP to ‘fast track’ oil blocks L and M issue

PENAMPANG: The Barisan Nasional (BN) government must bewary of what it does lest history catches up with them.

"I am warning the BN government of today, that if they are not careful, history will catch up with them, they are answerable now and in the future," said Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Datuk Yong Teck Lee.

"In this respect we are fast tracking the issue of L and M oil blocks,” he said.



Yong who was met at the SAPP public service counter at the Donggongon tamu yesterday said that arising from the Labuan case, the party was now considering to fast track the issue,of the loss of oil blocks L and M of three million acres in Sabah to Brunei Darussalam in the final days of the Pak Lah administration.

He regretted the fact that the matter was not even brought to the State Assembly when the issue was first exposed by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"How could Petronas sign an agreement with a foreign company if the territory was not part of Malaysia in the first place?" Yong asked.

"At that time we highlighted that the loss of oil blocks L and M involved a change of the Sabah boundary which required an approval of the State Legislative Assembly and amendment to the constitution.

"It also required, because it involved Malaysian teritory, the Rulers’ Conference and a Parliamentary Act. Other than the loss of petroleum reserve under the, three million acres of maritime territory, there are now issues about fishermen and other shipping passing by the two blocks.

Yong said, "it is still not too late to do something about the loss of L and M."