Razaleigh tells UMNO: Solve oil royalty, infrastructure before talking about capturing Kelantan

Veteran UMNO leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has urged his party to resolve the oil royalty stalemate between Kelantan and the Federal government before talking about capturing the state from PAS.

Saying UMNO leaders had sought his advice on how to strengthen the party in Kelantan, Razaleigh (pic) said the oil royalty dispute could be solved if the government honoured the Petroleum Development Act 1974 signed by the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein.

The Gua Musang member of parliament however added that this did not mean he was siding with the opposition.

"I am merely explaining the contents of the Act which I drafted based on Tun Razak’s instruction,” said Razaleigh, a former chairman of national oil company Petronas, as quoted by Sinar Harian.

Razaleigh, who headed the oil giant when the Act was introduced, also dismissed UMNO’s argument that the law was no longer irrelevant.

“If it was accepted by UMNO in the past, when Tun Razak was the [UMNO] president and I was the vice president, why can't the present UMNO accept? It’s illogical,” said the former Finance minister.

He also advised UMNO to resolve Kelantan’s infrastructure woes, especially poor roads, for the benefit of Kelantanese.

Recently, the state government initiated the construction of a self-funded highway linking Kuala Krai to Kota Baru. At the cost of RM1.8 billion, it will be called “Lebuh Raya Rakyat” (People’s Highway), as it is being partly funded by the public.

-Harakahdaily