KUCHING, March 27 ― An Opposition lawmaker today called for a special sitting of the Sarawak Legislative Assembly to deliberate on the sovereign power and rights over oil and gas resources found within the state’s boundary.
PKR’s Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How said the state assembly should come up with a united voice with regards to the state’s rights over the resources.
“Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg has done the right thing by taking a step further to pursue and assert the state’s autonomous rights over the valuable resources of oil and gas lying within the territorial boundary of Sarawak,” he told reporters.
However, See said such a pursuit is by no means easy as there are constraints and obstacles that need to be overcome.
See said the Territorial Sea Act (TSA) 2012, Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 and Tripartite Agreement (TA) signed between the federal government, Sarawak government and Petronas in 1974 are among obstacles that need to be overcome before Sarawak can assume regulatory control over oil and gas resources.
He said TSA had altered Sarawak’s boundary from 12 to three nautical miles, PDA has invested in Petronas the rights over oil and gas resources found within Sarawak’s boundary while TA entitles Sarawak to receive only 5 per cent oil gas royalty from Petronas.
“We must come up with a clear and collective stance with regards to TSA, PDA , and TA,” he said.
See, who is also State PKR’s vice chairman, said Abang Johari should not dismiss TSA and PDA as irrelevant to Sarawak just because the federal laws were never been endorsed by the state assembly.
“If the state is adamant that PDA 1974 is unconstitutional and is of no effect to Sarawak, why are we still allowing Petronas to continue to concession out oil and gas fields at the off-shore of Sarawak since 2012?” he asked.
He said over the last 13 months Petronas has been disposing equity interests and awarding exploration, development and production agreements concerning these resources and particularly those affecting the valuable gas fields.
See said the state PKR is wary that the state government may compromise the ownership of the petroleum resources, any or all of legal and equitable entitlements in return for mere regulatory control and authority over the application and approval of licensing for prospecting, exploration, exploitation and development of petroleum resources in Sarawak.
