Luke RintodThe two states have already experienced '100%' loss of their natural resources under the Umno-controlled Petronas, according to UBF.
He said that the two states have already experienced “100% losses” of their oil and gas resources under the Petroleum Act.
He said both the Sabah and Sarawak governments have absolute rights to seek a review or even a repeal of the Petroleum Act.
“But whether the Petroleum Act itself is constitutional, given the position of Sabah arising from the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the safeguards given to the state by the founding fathers of Malaysia, is debatable.
“If the Act is to be continued, Sabah and Sarawak should be entitled to nothing less than 50% of the profits derived from the oil and gas assets.
“The Sabah government should be entitled to a share in Petronas, given that the state is a stakeholder in the profits derived by Petronas compared to non-oil producing states.
“The monies invested by Petronas in Sudan, Iran, Iraq and other overseas ventures are derived partly from profits obtained from Sabah and Sarawak’s oil and gas assets.
“Similarly, profits from Sabah’s assets have helped Petronas establish its subsidiaries, some of which are now listed on Bursa Malaysia and generate more profits for Petronas ,” he said.
Urgent steps
Jeffrey said that so far the two states had not been benefiting from the oil-related industry and must take urgent steps to address the issue with the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.
If they failed to so, he said, both states will continue to lose rights to profits from oil and gas derived from their territories.
“In reality, Sabah and Sarawak have suffered a 100% loss of their oil and gas because under the Petroleum Act, all the oil and gas reserves in the states are lost forever… they are vested in Umno-controlled Petronas.
“In return, Petronas pays the state governments a measly and miserable 5% of the revenue reaped by Petronas.
“The 5% so-called oil royalties cannot adequately compensate the total loss of the oil and gas assets which, by right, should benefit all Sabahans and Sarawakians first and not Petronas,” Jeffrey said in a statement to FMT.
He said that the revenue of Petronas is based on operational profits and as such, it is a gross injustice to Sabahans and Sarawakians that they only get 5% of the profit while 95% of it goes to Petronas.
Jeffrey also said that in January 2011, Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman had announced that the state contributed 26.9% of the 637,000 barrels of crude oil produced per day in Malaysia.
“In the 2011 Sabah state budget, the chief minister projected the oil royalties (5%) to be RM721.7 million, of which all will be used for the annual expenditure of the state.
“Not a single sen is saved or invested for the future of Sabah and Sabahans.
“In Norway, the bulk of the oil revenue from its North Sea oilfields is saved and invested, making Norway one of the largest investors in the whole of Europe.”
“This means that every Norwegian owns the asset (oil) extracted long before he or she is born,” he said.
Mind-boggling
Jeffrey said that the oil and gas problem in Sabah and Sarawak was compounded by the lack of transparency in the dealings.
He added that there was also a lack of political will to establish an oil and gas industry, especially in Sabah.
“The latest arrangement to divert Sabah’s natural gas from Kimanis, Papar, to Bintulu, Sarawak, for processing is mind-boggling.
“The RM4 billion Kimanis-Bintulu gas pipeline and the billions spent on expanding the Bintulu LNG plant could very well have been invested in a new processing plant in Sabah where Sabahans could reap the benefits of the future spin-offs from such an investment,” Jeffrey said.
SUPP should fight for an autonomous Sarawak within Malaysia. That should be the way forward. Sarawak for Sarawakians. We should not be like DAP Sarawak YBs who are stooges of their West Malaysian Pakatan (DAP, PKR & PAS).
ReplyDeleteIt is only through this that SUPP can gain back the support of Sarawak Voters. The first step is to fight for the return of our Oil and Gas rights. Most of the monies earned is now used as subsidies for West Malaysia by BN Umno without must benefit to Sabah and Sarawak in particular. SUPP's new slogan should be "SARAWAK FIRST AND SARAWAK FOR SARAWAKIANS"
Get rid of all the party import from malaya be it UMNO or Pakatan Rakyat. Both are from malaya which is only interested to come to East Malaysia to steal and rob our natural resources.
ReplyDeleteWho the HELL like Pakatan to say to give only 20% to Sabah? The oil and gas are from Sabah, we are the one should decide how much to give to help the 11 poor states in malaya.
STOP fooling us those party malaya leaders.
Your days are numbered in the coming election GE13.
All the people of Sabah will show the EXIT door to all the party malaya and you people are not welcome here. Enough is enough!
Please la, East Malaysians are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Whoever wins federal government will require the funds to power their election machinery and and to fulfill election promises - meaning election promises for West Malaysia. Its easy to say that PR will change the deal but realistically they can't afford to lose the biggest source of federal revenue. And there are too many politicians from either side with entrenched interest in the petroleum industry to allow the change to be easy
ReplyDeletePAKATAN = UMNO = PARTY MALAYA = 2 X 5 = oil Thief
The 1974 Petroleum Development Act was passed by Parliament, unchallenged by PAS and DAP. So don't tell me, that it is the sins of BN and UMNO alone. And to be realistic about it, PR offer to increase the oil royalty to 20% is also without any forceful rationale i.e its only fishing for vote. Insofar as Malaya-Borneo relations is concern, PR political philosophy is no different than BN: indifferent at best, neo-colonialist at worst.
ReplyDeletePolitically, I think it will take unrelenting demand by Sabah and Sarawak people, and political parties to reverse the domination of the states. Unfortunately thats a tall order.
It's high time for politicians in Sabah and Sarawak to pull their soaks up and safeguard the interests and the future of the two states. Federal govt has been screwing the states with the Petroleum Act and at the time allowing their local cronies to screw the states on timber and land resources, it's a win-win strategy of their state-federal relationships.
ReplyDeleteRevenues from natural resources should not be used to fund the govt operating expenditures but preserved for the future generations of Sabahans and Sarawakians.
What better time than now to press for review of the Malaysia Agreement vis-a-vis the Petroleum Act, folks?
This is the Borneo Agenda, not the BN or PR agenda, that we should be fighting for.
We should support our local party SAPP to fight for our political autonomy and get back our oil and gas.
knowing that the price of oil and gas is only going up and up, why is there no plan for oil and gas management? ie; prolong the deposit for next generation instead of the rate of this "Mad-Pumping"?
ReplyDelete