Why Is Pakatan Still Robbing Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu And Kelantan?

Since Pakatan Harapan took over in May 2018, Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan have been robbed a further RM80 billion or so. Pakatan promised since back in 1999 this is going to end. But it appears like they blame Umno and Barisan Nasional for robbing the country while Pakatan Harapan continues this robbery until today.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Oil and gas were discovered in Terengganu back in 1972. At that time, Tun Razak Hussein was the Prime Minister and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was his sort of economic advisor. If I am not mistaken, Tun Salleh Abas was then (1963-1982) either in the Attorney-General’s Chambers or he was the Solicitor-General. (In 1984, Tun Salleh became the Lord President, now called Chief Justice).

But the Federal Government kept this discovery a secret. According to Lim Kit Siang, Exxon was secretly pumping the oil and was transferring it to ships direct from the oil rigs in the middle of the sea (while the gas was flared). Kit Siang refused to name his source or whistle-blower and said the documents were dropped on his doorstep outside his house in Melaka by anonymous informers.

The reason the Federal Government needed to keep this a secret is because, according to the Federation of Malaya Agreement, all state resources belong to the state (oil, gas, water, timber, gold, tin, etc.), plus, of course, land. Hence the oil and gas would belong to Terengganu, and we are talking about an estimated RM20 billion every year, or about RM900 billion since when oil and gas were first discovered.

Yes, Terengganu had generated close to RM1 trillion since oil and gas were first discovered in 1972.

Tengku Razaleigh was given the job of nationalising oil and gas

And that is what the Federal Constitution of Malaya (now Federal Constitution of Malaysia) stipulates as well. Oil, gas, water, timber, gold, tin, and so on, belong to Terengganu. So, by now Terengganu would have earned close to RM1 trillion, according to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.

But that was too much money for a small state of merely one million Malays. If they allowed Terengganu to get its hands on that RM20 billion a year, the state would be as rich as Brunei. In 1972, Terengganu was the second poorest state in Malaysia after Perlis. Technically, if they did not have to surrender their oil and gas to the Federal Government, Terengganu would be the richest state in Malaysia.

And that is why they kept the discovery of oil and gas in Terengganu a secret, until Kit Siang went and spilled the beans, that is. The Federal Government needed to by-pass the Federal Constitution of Malaysia so that it could get its hands on that RM20 billion a year (almost RM1 trillion in total today).

And that job was given to Tengku Razaleigh and Salleh Abas.

Salleh Abas drafted the Petroleum Development Act (1974)

Salleh Abas drafted the Petroleum Development Act (1974), which Tengku Razaleigh brought to Parliament for approval. Under the Petroleum Development Act, oil and gas would be nationalised and would no longer belong to the state. A national company called Petroleum Nasional Berhad (Petronas) would be formed and would be given sole rights to explore and exploit oil and gas. The states would be given just 5% of the earnings.

In essence, the Petroleum Development Act (1974) violates the Federation of Malaya Agreement of 1957 plus the Federation of Malaysia Agreement of 1963. The Petroleum Development Act (1974) took away the rights of the states over its oil and gas. The Petroleum Development Act (1974) legalised what was illegal.

And, because of the Petroleum Development Act (1974), an estimated RM4-RM5 trillion of money that belonged to Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan was robbed by the Federal Government.

Now, the title of this article is: Why is Pakatan still robbing Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan?

Through Petronas, Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan were robbed of an estimated RM4-RM5 trillion

Yes, back in 1999, Pakatan Harapan, which at that time was called Barisan Alternatif, promised Malaysians they would undo this travesty and injustice and would give back to Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan what belonged to them: their oil and gas. Pakatan has been the Federal Government for 14 months now and they have still not done that yet. When will it be done?

Since Pakatan Harapan took over in May 2018, Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan have been robbed a further RM80 billion or so. Pakatan promised since back in 1999 this is going to end. But it appears like they blame Umno and Barisan Nasional for robbing the country while Pakatan Harapan continues this robbery until today.