Shafie mustn’t fail Sabahans on oil and gas, royalty issues, says Jeffrey

Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku president Jeffrey Kitingan says ownership of Sabah’s oil and gas resources must be returned to the state.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah opposition leader Jeffrey Kitingan said Chief Minister Shafie Apdal will be considered a failure if he did not seek the return of oil and gas resources to the state during a meeting with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad next week.

Jeffrey, the Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) president and Keningau MP, said “this is just among other things” Sabah was entitled to that Shafie must get back from Mahathir.

“First and foremost, the ownership of Sabah’s oil and gas resources should be returned to the state with regulatory control.

“With this regulatory control and the imposition of 5% sales tax, Sabah stands to gain an additional revenue of RM1.7 billion for 2020,” he said in a statement here today.

Shafie had said he and Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg would be meeting with Mahathir on the oil royalty issue in Putrajaya on Monday.

He also said he would not pre-empt talk that Putrajaya may consider selling a stake in Petronas to Sabah.

Mahathir had said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday the government would consider selling a stake in Petronas to Sabah and Sarawak, as the two states were demanding a bigger share of revenue from oil extracted in their territories.

He said Putrajaya could not meet the states’ demand to increase the royalties paid by Petronas from 5% to 20%, but the government could let go of its stakes in smaller units of Petronas.

Jeffrey said he would consider Shafie had failed if he did not resolve the oil and gas and royalty issues “in the best interests of Sabah and Sabahans and their future generations”.

He said there was also the issue of export duties on petroleum, which Sabah was entitled to an aggregate 10% of the estimated value, adding that it would add another RM3.4 billion to the state’s revenue for next year.

“Sabah is constitutionally entitled to this 10% export duty in lieu of royalties. In fact, under Article 112C(4)(2), even Parliament cannot pass any law to prevent Sabah and Sarawak from levying royalties on its oil and gas resources.

“Come this Dec 16, Sabahans will get to know whether Shafie is a chief minister for all Sabahans or just a lame-duck leader for one segment of Sabah,” he said. - FMT